The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Relaxed

 

Hilda and Vimm were pinned to the spot for almost 30 seconds. They only came out of their daze after Hao Ren kept waving at them. If Hilda knew little about who Hao Ren was, then Vimm was as clueless as a man trying to buy his wife underwear; to him, what he had heard did not feel like a hallucination, but more like a story from The Arabian Nights.

“Did you say… a planet?” Vimm looked at this mysterious stranger. “You are giving it to us? You are able to move one billion people at one go? I-I do not know if I have understood it correctly.”

Vimm’s response was not unexpected. Hao Ren nodded earnestly, and explained, “That’s exactly what I’m going do, no doubt about it. But first thing’s first, let me make it clear: due to some reasons, the planet is not free, it will be leased to you—just a matter of formality. You can freely utilise the resources on the planet as I’m going to transfer as much of the usage rights as possible from me to you. After all, I will have little use for it. You will live as visitors until you are able to develop your own hyperdrive technology to explore and find your own colony in another planet. You can then claim that planet as your own and stay as a legitimate resident. However, the fleet isn’t free. Nonetheless, I believe you can afford the fare.”

Hilda kept nodding as she listened. As most things were just a formality, the few restrictions were nothing compared to what Hao Ren had done for the Aerymian elves to escape from their present predicament. But as the ruler of Aerym, she had to be cautious. “Very well Hao Ren, what is the price?”

“Like I’ve just said, you have to leave everything here behind, which may be difficult for you. And then you’ll have to pay the fleet.” Hao Ren spread his hands. “It’s a civilian moving company, they aren’t doing it for free. Their condition is that they’ll take over the floating islands and large equipment that you have to leave behind. These things may be worth some money in the secondary and black market. They will probably be enough to cover the fare for moving a billion of your people to another universe. It’s a ‘friend’s price’ though. The transport guy agreed to the barter payment only because he knows me as a friend.”

Hilda opened her eyes in surprise. “That is all?”

“Is there any problem?” Nearby, Vivian chimed in, “You’ll have more than enough land and resources in your new home. While there are only a billion of you, the new planet should be just nice. Keeping the floating islands is pointless.”

“I do not intend to keep them. Just that, I never expected anyone would want them.” Hilda was embarrased. “I thought these were just junk in the eyes of developed nations…”

The MDT chimed in, “Do not think that way. Even junk have their worth. It depends on how you use them. Of course, for civilisations capable of interstellar travel, the floating islands themselves are not worth a thing. These space fragments are available everywhere, but what’s valuable are the equipment on the islands—the equipment you made. In certain markets, there is a demand for it. Depletion of resources has catapulted the development of your recyling and eco-dome technologies. Such equipment are prized not in highly developed but young civilisations. As they are just leaping into space with their so-so technology, they are keen to acquire these low-cost, ready-built equipment.”

“You sound like a pro.” Hao Ren glanced at the MDT, surprised.

“I’ve just learned from the database that the pan-universe economic sphere is an interesting subject. The junk in Aerym can be modified and turned into low-cost components by professional restorers. Then,they can be assembled and repackaged into other compatible secondhand equipment before being sold to some rookie civilisation. It’s a big business. Perhaps, you may see the shadow of Dawnbreak Island in some corner of the galaxy some day. The universe is a big place, people would do anything for a living. Junk that cannot be recycled and reused will be sent into the furnace, or become collector’s items among interstellar scholars and enthusiasts. Let me quote a saying from Fairy Void Consortium, ‘Nothing made by an intelligent race goes to waste’—it’s become the holy grail of all interstellar profiteers.”

Hao Ren thought for a moment, then said, “…Let’s not talk about that for now. How much have I been shortchanged by the 883 captain?”

“Not much, just as much as he can take from a broad-minded business acquaintance,” the MDT sounded indifferent as it spoke. “Strictly speaking, he’s just profitting from Aerymian elves. He’s a businessman, don’t expect him to be as noble as Y’zaks.”

Hao Ren was speechless.

Hilda got the drift. She quickly said, “That’s alright. I will not be able to take those things along after all…”

Since the party in question had no objection, there was nothing else Hao Ren could say. But he now had a deeper understanding of the vast universe. He also learned the fact that there were bound to be imbalances in the technological progression of civilisations: Aerymian elves had been stuck in their home star system, but it was the fault of the environment; they excelled in every other aspect such as recycling and artificial ecosystem technologies, which were of interstellar standards. All they needed was a hyperdrive, and they would spread like wildflowers in the universe.

One could foresee that once the Aerymian elves escaped from their predicament and started flourishing, their potential was unlimited.

“So, you have no objection to the migration plan?” Hao Ren looked at Hilda. “Do you need to discuss with your elders and officials?”

It was impossible to guess what Hilda was thinking just by looking at her face; her face was filled with excitement, astonishment, and a forced sense of calmness. Her lips shivered and she nodded. “Of course, I have no objection! It is a pleasant surprise. Are you really giving us a planet? And apart from the fare, you want nothing else from us? I do not understand… Is a planet that insignificant to you?”

Hao Ren scratched his head, then said, “How do I phrase this? From my standpoint as an individual, I still cannot believe that I have such a land at my disposal. My own house has not been renovated for decades, so I really cannot imagine how it’s like to own a planet. However, I’m playing the role as an inspector here. The planet is just an asset on paper, I have no idea how to make use of it. Play bowling with it? I’d rather do you a favour by giving it to you.”

“For you, it is nothing”—Vimm was not amused—”but our race has been struggling for thousands of years.”

“Vimm, inform the elders’ assembly and my political consultative team,” Hilda said quickly. “Issue a royal notice to prepare for a nationwide announcement, but keep the details under embargo. Just keep the people on alert for the news channels. I will make the announcement myself when the assembly of elders is over. Stop the work on hand, they are not important anymore.”

Vimm rose to his feet, obliging. “Yes, mother!”

The young, elven prince regent wheeled and walked towards the exit. But he suddenly halted in his steps, turned and looked at Hao Ren as well as his mother with a weird expression on his face. It was almost clownish. “Wait a second, I am still confused… You two do not actually mean it. It is just a story, is it not? I really cannot…”

Hilda just had a straight face. “Go, now!”

As the young prince regent dashed out, Hilda reminded him, “Do not forget to say that ‘it is good news’ when you make the announcement—the people have had enough bad news.”

Vimm left the hall at once. Hao Ren lamented. “You do have a knack for teaching your kid.”

“He is not matured enough.” Hilda shook her head. “He barely qualified as prince regent, but I cannot help it. He has just entered adulthood, and I may have been impatient in teaching him.”

Hao Ren felt weird discussing parenting with a pretty girl, who was no more than two years his senior. He quickly ended the conversation. “Let’s not delve into this. We have already dealt with the elephant in the room. I guess the social problems that the Lotto Group is causing will not be a problem anymore, right?”

Hilda was startled as if she just came out from a daze. She then smiled, and said, “Yes, I… suddenly feel… relaxed…”

Hilda’s voice became softer and softer. Hao Ren did not notice it at first, but when he did, Hilda had already dozed off on the table.

Chapter 257: Deceased

 

Hilda’s sudden collapse shocked everyone present. Hao Ren, who was the closest managed to recover his wits the fastest and he quickly lifted Hilda by her shoulder. “Hey, hey! What’s going on?!”

The elven queen was thoroughly unsconcious and Hao Ren felt as if he was clutching a corpse. Her body was stiff, her face pale, and he could not even sense any breathing from her. Vivian, who soon recovered quickly conjured a block of ice to shock the queen, and she also used her blood magic to jolt her circulatory system. It was only after a good while that Hilda started breathing again. However, there were no signs of her gaining consciousness.

“My god, what’s going on? Did she go into shock after getting that burden off?” Hao Ren wondered aloud as the possibility crossed his mind.

Vivian’s expression was grim but confused. “No… doesn’t seem like it. I don’t feel any… ‘life’ in her. I force-started her circulatory system and muscle activity to ‘revive’ the body, so she should’ve woken up by now…”

As Vivian previously stated, Hilda’s bodily activities had ceased completely within mere minutes, she felt totally like a corpse. Vivian’s unique blood magic had revived her physical body, but she was still out, with no signs of gaining consciousness any time soon. It looked like her spirit had left her mortal shell, and all that was left in front of them was a mere husk of an active body.

“Stand aside, let me do a cursory scan.” The MDT seemed to have something in mind and it started scanning Hilda’s body with a faint blue light. “Basic health scan completed… Low level biological functions detected. No brain activity detected, no signs of nerve impulse, no signs of polymorphic spiritual energy… Initial diagnosis… Death… Holy sh*t, this elf may very well be dead.”

“You gotta be sh*tting me…” Hao Ren was stunned. He never thought such a good news would be the end of Hilda. He quickly recovered and turned to Vivian. “Quick, use your…. resurrection spell or something!”

“It’s no use.” The MDT interrupted Vivian’s preparations. “She already used her blood magic to revive Hilda’s body. Technically, the body is still alive. Her current state however… There’s something deeper to this. There’s a general use medi-chamber in the ship. We need to get her there to do a full scan.

Y’zaks immediately got up and turned towards the elevator as he heard this, but Vivian quickly stopped him. “Hold it. Let’s keep this on the down low… Panic will ensue if this goes out.”

“They will know sooner or later, no?” Y’zaks turned around.

“I agree with Vivian.” Hao Ren nodded. “We need to buy some time until the medi-chamber comes up with a proper report. MDT, teleport us to back to the ship. Vivian, you’re the smart one, stay back and deal with the elves… If anyone asks, just say that the queen led us out to inspect some parts of the city…”

“Can we fool them though?” Vivian was confused. “How do we even trick the elevator guards? How would the queen leave the room?”

Hao Ren pointed towards the window. “Didn’t a white, furry beast go wild and jump out of the window yesterday? I think the guards should be somewhat resistant to surprises like this. Besides, their queen has been in our company for quite a while, so I think that excuse will be able hold for a while. Whether the medi-chamber works or not, I’ll try to get you something within two hours. Also, if Lily comes back, just get her to behave… No… Just let her run wild outside. She’s one spoiler we don’t need right now.”

Hao Ren was usually slow and steady, but facing such an emergency, he seemed to be in his element. He calmly gave out orders while Vivian nodded as she took everything in. Before he left, he pulled out a small, shiny cube from his Dimensional Pocket and placed it in her hand. “Hold on to this. This is the ship’s unregistered passenger’s communicator. I’ll ring you if there’s anything.”

Hao Ren’s tenants did not have any authority in the Imperial Data Network and thus, could not connect to the mental communication network. The Petrachelys on the other hand, was a ship designed for inspectors and inspectors had to frequently work with commoners who had not access to the Data Network. As such, the ship came with such communicators. They could only access a singular secured channel that did not cross with the Data Network. A convenient tool indeed. Hao Ren had grabbed a handful and stuffed them into the Dimensional Pocket before he left the ship. It was only at this point that he recalled having done that.

Vivian nodded again as she took the communicator. Hao Ren then lifted Hilda up into a cradle, not knowing if the elf was dead or alive. He disappeared with Y’zaks and the MDT in a flash of light.

The MDT set the medical bay as the landing point of their teleportation and as soon as the nausea faded, Hao Ren found himself right in front of the medical bay. The ship had already received orders even before they arrived and the medi-chamber was opening slowly with all the other equipment lighting up into standby mode. Shortly after, a droid came whirling towards Hao Ren. It helped him place Hilda into the chamber before placing itself into the terminal next to the medi-chamber. The droids were fully equipped with all the systems required to run the equipment in the ship. They could take over the roles of crew members in the event that there were no professional crew onboard, medical attention included.

As the scan began, the main computer in the medical bay started its report in a monotonous tone. “Connection complete…. Starting preliminary target scan…. Carbon base, Type IV, living organism with a closed circulatory system. Scan results… Death. Initiating secondary scan… Cause of death, shattering of spirit… Initiating tertiary scan… Cause of death determined as… destruction of spirit… Initiating scan again…”

As all the equipment buzzed in the background, the medical bay’s A.I. quickly generated a series of mind boggling reports that ran almost 10 pages long. The details of the reports were so precise that both Hao Ren and Y’zaks were overwhelmed. Neither of them understood the terminologies used in the report. After fruitlessly trying to decipher what the report was all about, Hao Ren got the main computer to generate a simple report. What he received was a spine chilling response. “Death of spiritual body”

“It happened so suddenly…” Hao Ren could not wrap his head around the incident. Hilda, who was standing in front of them, all hale and hearty was suddenly declared spiritually dead. It was too much and too sudden for Hao Ren to accept. He even felt that it would have been easier to swallow if Hilda had actually died from shock, being relieved of her burdens. But he had nothing to dispute the results generated by the medical bay’s computer. Hilda was indeed dead. In fact, she had been dead for quite some time already.

The MDT summarised the main details of the medical report and displayed it on a holographic screen before Hao Ren. The latter quickly caught on to a key point in the summary:

“Time of spiritual disintegration… Twenty to thirty days ago… spirit remnants…”

“What does that mean?” Hao Ren had a few ideas but he still could not believe that the report was true.

The MDT explained in an uncharacteristically calm voice. “Hilda has been dead for quite some time… If I’m not wrong, probably about the time she entered The Plane of Dreams. Her spiritual disintegration started 20 to 30 days ago… It’s something that only happens once a person is dead. However, in most situations and for most people, the disintegration happens very quickly, in the blink of an eye… hers however, took almost ten full days…”

“That means…”

“The Hilda who was with us the entire time was just her will to survive,” said the MDT. It slowly landed on Hao Ren’s shoulder, as if to pat him. “It’s not just you or me, even she herself didn’t realise it.”

The medi-chamber hissed opened slowly as Hilda lay still in it, her body still warm. She was really dead, nothing but a corpse in front of Hao Ren. Her face was pale, but she did not show any signs of pain. There was even a faint trace of a smile on her face, almost as if she was having a very pleasant dream.

Hilda was dead by the time the explosion on the Isle of Rainbows occurred, instantly killed like many others on the scene by the power unleashed from the spell. But as the dimensional rift opened, her body was tossed into the rift, into another world alongside the residuals of her shattered spirit. And these residuals formed an undying will so strong that she did not realise she had already died. With that will, she pushed on for almost a month until this very day; to go home, to protect her people, to defend her home. Hilda’s undying will drained whatever was left of her spiritual energy without her noticing until that very moment. Once she realised that all her burdens were lifted, the exhausted Queen of Aerym could sleep restfully.

A soul, longing so earnestly for home, was now at peace.

The atmosphere then was beyond sombre. Hao Ren simply stood there, stunned. A cacophony of whys and what ifs rang in his mind until Raven 12345’s voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Chapter 258: There Is Still Hope

 

Hilda had already been dead for about a month… This revelation left Hao Ren and even the astute Y’zaks speechless for a good part of the day. No one had any inkling that the Hilda, who was with them the entire time was a mere husk driven by sheer determination. Recalling the way Hilda had acted and reacted back then, it was very difficult to believe that she was already dead the moment she entered The Plane of Dreams. Despite that, the truth was in front of them. Hilda’s spirit had just left her mortal shell entirely and the remnants of her spiritual imprint revealed that her spirit started decaying about 20 odd days ago.

One could only say that Hilda’s will and determination defied death. She herself was not aware of the fact that she had died.

Hao Ren was thoroughly overwhelmed by the confusion in his head. At that moment, not knowing how to face Vimm or the elves waiting for them to show up, Raven 12345’s voice suddenly rang in his mind. “Yo, Hao Ren… If my calculations are correct… it should be about time.”

Hao Ren suddenly realised that he had brought Hilda to meet Raven before. The rather ominous way Raven went about it meant something was clearly up. “You knew about Hilda’s situation?!”

“Ah, yes I did. Seems like whatever that’s left of her life force is totally spent.” Raven12345 sounded calm, but in her calmness, there was a slight shred of lamentation. “What an incredible mortal being… I noticed that the first time I saw her. She was drifting between the realm of life and death. Seems like she had already died when she came to The Plane of Dreams, but her spirit forcefully forgot the fact that she was dead, and held on till today.”

As a goddess, it was almost unsurprising that Raven 12345 had seen through all of it. Hao Ren could not suppress his emotions anymore and yelled at her, “Why didn’t you say so earlier!?”

Raven 12345 demurred for a moment before slowly speaking again. “You know… the words of a god are powerful.”

Hao Ren was perplexed, but Raven12345 did not appear to be fooling around this time around. “I did notice what was going on with her from the first glance. However, she was a mere ghost that was driven by determination alone and her existance was more fragile than a candle in the wind. Under those circumstances, if I had mentioned anything about her death, regardless of where her ghost was, she would have been immediately wiped out by the laws of the world. This is the power of a god’s word. Even if I had held back she would not have been able to withstand it in her current state. Besides, there’s a reason why I did not tell any of you either. I was worried that anyone of you may blurt it out by accident and cause the same effect. Why I’m telling you now… is because her life force has been thoroughly spent. A spirit in flux will not die again.”

“Do you have anyway to save her?” Hao Ren refused to believe that Raven did not have such powers.

“Oh, I sure do. Else why do you think I’m contacting you now.” It was clear now that Raven 12345’s appearance was not for fun. “Actually, I had embedded her body with some sort of power and I’m just waiting for it to trigger. Just to be sure though… When that elven space-time accelerator exploded, was there anything that remained?”

“Umm… There should be something left…” Hao Ren had no idea why Raven 12345 brought that up. “Does it have anything to do with this?”

“Of course. Part of Hilda’s spirit should still be in the ruins.” Raven 12345 then started to elaborate on the situation. “The first time I saw the elf, I noticed that her spirit was torned apart. That’s the most direct cause of her death. Her body only had a fragment of her spirit and part of her memory while the rest were missing. My assumption is that it should be where she died. As there is no need to sustain her body, that portion of her spirit is probably still around. The reason I did not intervene when I met her was because of her incomplete spirit, and any outside intervention would have simply made things worse . Now, you need to bring her back to where the space-time accelerator exploded in order to completely revive her. I left some power in her, and it will keep her spirit bound to her even after it has dissipated. If you are able to find the other part of her spirit, this power will reunite the fragments of her spirit and make it whole again.”

“It’s that simple?”

“Nonsense. You already have me, your benevolent goddess, lending you a hand. Of course it’ll be simple.” Raven 12345 was reluctant in maintaining her image as a goddess even when she was performing the duties of one. Her true self was revealed the moment she spoke. “Let me tell you, most of the time, I wouldn’t even be bothered by things like this. But this elf, Hilda did something that was beyond most mortals, and I have to reward her for that. Let’s get things going, time is ticking. There may be nothing left if we delay this further. The day of salvation is not far for these elves, and their queen needs to be there with them.”

Hao Ren nodded in agreement before something popped up in his head. “Wait… I heard Vimm saying that after the explosion, the Isle of Rainbows was pretty much annihilated. What if her spirit isn’t among the shattered remains of the island?

“Then you will need to navigate along the island’s orbit to look for her. That’s all.”

As usual, Raven 12345 cut off the comms nonchalantly. Hao Ren stood there, stunned for a moment before he regained his senses. He took a glance at Hilda’s body and he was not sure if he was seeing things or it was Raven 12345’s power taking effect; he vaguely saw a faint silhouette beside her. Before he could take a better look however, the silhouette disappeared.

He pondered for a moment, after which he took up the communicator. “Vivian, you there?”

There was silence from the other end. Shorty after, Vivian’s flustered voice was heard as she fumbled about the device. “Ehh… ehh? Where’s the button? Ehh… Ah, Mr. Landlord, I’m here. Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” Hao Ren sighed. “Things over here have gotten a bit complicated. Go look for Vimm and get him on the ship. Oh, only him alone….The situation here may cause panic….”

Vivian could tell from Hao Ren’s tone that the situation was rather serious. She proceeded to look for the prince regent without asking any further. Well, it did not take much effort to convince Vimm to get on the Petrachelys. While the young elf was indeed royalty, he trusted the guests that his mother had brought along, and these guests had promised the elves a new, fertile home. So, the moment he heard that Hao Ren had summoned him, he came over immediately and by himself as per Vivian’s instruction.

Vimm did not have the time to marvel at the interior of the high-tech ship. He was immediately ushered into the medical bay by the ship’s droids together with Vivian and Lily in tow.

As he stepped into the room, the first thing he saw was Hilda. She was laying on the medi-chamber, appearing to be in a deep sleep.

“What is…” Vimm was too startled for words. Hao Ren, fearing that any misunderstandings might occur, went ahead and clarified. “Uh… don’t worry, don’t worry… it’s just that your mum’s dead…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Hao Ren wanted to bash his face in. He literally had no control of his mouth the moment he became anxious. He had wanted to slowly explain everything to Vimm, but “your mum’s dead” pretty much set the tone already…

“Don’t panic… The thing is…” Hao Ren pinched his thigh to clear his mind. “Actually… your mother had already…”

It took a few minutes for Hao Ren to explain everything. The young elf’s expression went from shock, to agitated and lastly, utter confusion. But thankfully, he stayed calm throughout the process and listened intently.

“Is…. this true?” Vimm carefully approached Hilda. He put his finger in front of her nose before retracting it as though he got hit by static shock. He then turned back to Hao Ren with a confused look. “Mother was still…”

“…Regardless of whether you believe it or not, we need you to bring us to the remains of the Isle of Rainbows.” Hao Ren broke Vimm’s train of thought with a wave of his hand. “I know this is a bit too much to swallow at the moment, but now is not the time to reassess your world view. I know you have much to ask, but I ask you to hold all of it in first.”

Vimm could only nod solemnly.

Chapter 259: The Remnants of Her Spirit

 

A small shuttle darted out silently from the Petrachelys’ launch bay at breakneck speed. It was heading towards the Unusable Resource Storage Zone at the end of the island chain.

Using his powers as prince regent, Vimm had authorised a ‘silent’ route for the shuttle, to prevent other elves from noticing its trajectory. He also ordered for all entries and exits in the area to be shut and all reclamation work on the Isle of Rainbows be stopped. This was to ensure total secrecy and smoothness of their plans.

After a short space ride, the shuttle reached the desolate space junkyard and started navigating towards the Isle of Rainbows using a map supplied by Vimm.

The junkyard encompassed a considerable amount of space in the island chain, and it was close to the Deadlands. This area was filled with debris of whatever remained of the floating islands. From a distance, they looked almost like a small asteroid belt. Most of the Deadlands were still somewhat intact, and some were even salvagable. Those in the junkyard were however shattered beyond recognition. The Aerymian elves had gathered all the rubble in one place and tried to extract any possible resource from them. Pieces of the recently destroyed Isle of Rainbows were also placed here.

The shuttle weaved through the piles of mountain-sized debris as it passed them by. Most of the floating rocks had signs of being was man-made. There was everything from rocks with smooth, shiny surfaces to the remains of metallic structures, or the various tunnels and tubes that previously ran through the island. Hao Ren even noticed that some of the rocks had twisted ruins of destroyed buildings on them. Most of them were completely destroyed but from their large interior and thick partitions, one could tell that they were probably part of a large-scale manufacturing plant. Vimm explained that most of these debris came from the industrial islands. They were the most resilient of the floating islands but once one was lost, the results were catastrophic. When Eco-Island’s system shut down, it would slowly die off and become one of the Deadlands. However, most industrial islands were lost to massive explosions.

These structures had already been used for milleniums thus, they were pushed beyond their normal life expectancy by continuous cycles of patchwork repairs and replacements. A loose screw could pretty much precipitate a disastrous chain of events. Time had turned all of Aerym’s proud legacies into a ticking timebomb, and they had nowhere to run. They could only buy more time by continuously repairing the structures to delay their impending doomsday. And for some, doomsday did come knocking. The debris outside the ship was the veritable, sombre proof of it.

Around the space junkyard was something peculiar. It had a smooth, shiny oval shell and was shaped like an egg. This was a facility spanning about two kilometres in length. The space structure did not seem to had suffered any damage, and surely did not look like any of the excavation crafts in the area. It appeared more like a small, advanced space shuttle. Only then did Hao Ren find out that these things were called Coronal Stations after he asked Vimm out of curiousity.

“Part of the Coronal Stations are used to directly transfer energy from space to the islands, while some of them are used to collect drifting items within the solar winds. Those need to be moved to unload their cargo. They are quite literally a special, extreme heat-resistant spacecraft.” Vimm was worried about Hilda and he was trying to suppress his agitation. Nonetheless, he still managed to patiently explain the nature of the Coronal Station to his guests. “These ships use a special type of energy core, which is highly volatile. The radioactivity that they emits while in standby mode is very strong and they explode rather easily, so we had to place them away from the main islands.”

Vivian was perplexed. “Why can’t you use a smaller shuttle to handle the cargo?”

“We simply could not manufacture such a spacecraft.” Vimm shook his head. “Perhaps, you could call the Coronal Stations themselves ‘small spacecrafts’. These are the only items we managed to create that could withstand the heat of the sun. They are equipped with layers upon layers of magically infused armor and specialised force field generators. These itself require a massive core to power them and we do not have the ability to create anything smaller. A bigger craft would require almost double the power… so, the Coronal Station was designed as such.”

“These Coronal Stations would be a big hit with civilisations of a lower technological level, if someone were to improve their stability that is,” the MDT suddenly spoke. “Perhaps we could use these to wring something out of those conniving merchants, and get more emergency material of sorts. We only promised them the floating islands and the orbital system during the negotiations. We did not mention anything about these Coronal Stations. Your people would need these materials for the coming Great Migration.”

The mention of the Great Migration somewhat lifted Vimm’s spirits. “Our race will remember this debt of kindness eternally. If the Great Migration is successful, I am sure that all of the Aerymian elves and their kin will be glad to treat all of you as messiahs. Just say the word if you ever need our help.”

Hao Ren looked around him and saw a bat, a demon as well as a puppy. Then he recalled that he still had a big and a small fish at home alongside a mercenary whom he was not sure could go home. Pondering the burden that any of them would possibly have, Hao Ren concluded that this bunch of jokers would only be asking, “What to eat?” after helping the Aerymians relocate….

After crossing through the grim sea of debris, the shuttle finally arrived on a more”fresh” looking debris. It landed on one of the larger pieces of rocks.

“This is the remants of the Isle of Rainbows.” Vimm pointed towards the desolate landscape outside. “This was where the observation tower stood. Post explosion, the foundation is only what’s left of it. As for where the space-time accelerator was, that place was vaporised. Mother was at the tower when it happened…. so, if what you say about the remnants of her spirit is true, it will most likely be there.”

Vimm could not survive in vacuum, but this was not a problem. The Petrachelys had some emergency equipment that were created by civilian companies in the Macro World. They were for the military, especially for races who could not survive in space without proper equipment. These equipment were called “Emergency Lifesuits” and they looked like silverish collars. (They can be easily modified using the onboard miniature manufactorum to fit other races). After putting it on, the collar would scan the wearer’s body and quickly form a protective layer that shielded the user from vacuum, lost of temperature as well as radiation. At the same time, the shielding would also generate sufficient oxygen to last a long time. While this equipment was mainly for survival, it was more than adequate. With the addition of a simple thruster (which came from the same civilian company in the Macro World), Vimm could follow the others out into space.

Due to the nature of an inspector’s job, their starships usually came equipped with various equipment that could be used by the local population. Even the miniature manufactorum in the ship had plenty of production blueprints and plug-ins, which could easily solve many of the more trivial issues on the spot. Hao Ren felt that the Petrachelys was almost like a certain robot cat, except it was 600 metres longer. Who knew what you could pull out from its cargo hold. If not for the MDT’s help in cataloging the items there, Hao Ren would have been totally lost.

Vivian and Lily also took a collar each as they left the shuttle. Lily even grumbled to Hao Ren through the in-built communicator, “I don’t like putting this on my neck… It feels weird…”

“Heh, it’d be weird if a husky actually liked being collared.” Vivian took a jab at Lily as she followed from behind. She then took off the collar out of curiosity to experience what it was like to be in a vacuum. She quickly put it back on the moment discomfort set in. “Ugh… it’s really weird being in a vacuum, my whole body feels numb.”

“Really? Really?” Lily also happily took off her collar to experience what the vacuum was like and after a few minutes, she put it back on. “Yucks, that feels awful. I couldn’t breathe, I even felt bloated and my tongue felt like it was boiling.”

Seeing the two unusual creatures being so candid about their experience in the vacuum stunned Vimm for a good while. Hao Ren could not help but wipe off the sweat that was forming on his forehead. The MDT was correct. While Lily and Vivian did not undergo the enhancement to survive in a vacuum, their unnatural physique simply allowed them to survive in space for a short time! He was pretty sure that taking off a spacesuit to see what a vacuum was like was not something one saw everyday…

Both Vivian and Lily did not even want to use the thrusters at first as they felt the bulky item on their waist was just too ugly. They felt they could get around moving in the vacuum using their own methods. Lily pulled out her claws and sunk them into the rocks, creeping up the surface as she went. Vivian was even more flashy. She released a huge swarm of bats and used their counterforce to propel her forward… Hao Ren could not stand looking at the silly duo after a while and forced them to use the thrusters. Aside from being more efficient, Vivian would be anaemic if she were to create another swarm of bats. Have you even heard of an anaemic vampire before?

Hilda was still lying in the medi-chamber. The chamber could be moved out of the starship independently and it was now using it’s own propulsion system to follow the rest. Hao Ren led the fumbling crew forwards and after a moment, they finally reached the foundation of the tower. Its surrounding was a desolate plane, coated in molten metal.

The moment the group approached the tower, Hao Ren felt a surge of energy eminating from the medi-chamber, and a faint, flickering silhouette appeared in front of him not too far away.

It seemed like the power Raven 12345 had embedded in Hilda was starting to react. The remnant of Hilda’s spirit was indeed wandering amid the ruins.

The lost spirit was standing quietly in front of the tower ruins, her eyes fixated on where the space-time accelerator once was (now it was nothing but a void). She did not react to the strangers around her, and it was quite clear that she was quickly fading. Even with Raven 12345’s powers she was flickering, but as Raven mentioned, there was still time.

Hao Ren finally broke out in a smile as he moved towards the spirit.

“Seems like we’ve made it.”

Chapter 260: The Living Holy Spirit

 

A part of Hilda’s soul stood quietly before the tower’s wreckage, which had melted into large crystals. This vague silhouette had no expression and it did not react to the rest of them. Hao Ren approached her and waved his hand in front of her, but it appeared that she could not see him.

Her soul was so weak that even her basic line of thought was lost. She was like a motionless holographic projection. Even though the appearance of her body was present with the help of Raven 12345’s power, she was unable to respond to any stimuli.

“What should we do?” Vivian looked back at the medical chamber where Hilda’s body lay and found that nothing happened at all. “Do we just wait?”

“We just have to wait,” Hao Ren said. He then looked at the medical chamber, which was still in a closed state. “Raven said, as long as Hilda’s soul fragments are close to each other, the magical ‘seed’ she left behind will take care of the rest.”

Therefore, they waited quietly. However, Vimm did not know how much Raven 12345 could do. Looking at the familiar phantom, he looked uneasy and perturbed. “I did not expect this to happen to my mother… Is she really going to come back to life?”

In such a situation, Hao Ren had to protect Raven 12345’s image. “Rest assured that the Raven we’ve mentioned is a powerful god. Even just by breathing on your mother, she can still save her.”

Vivian and Y’zaks also tried to comfort Vimm to calm him down. After they took turns to ease his heart, he was finally relieved and he patiently waited for the results like the rest of them.

The next 10 minutes were long and difficult to endure. The wait felt like thousands of years for Vimm but finally, his waiting did not go to waste: by some mysterious force, Hilda’s soul seemed to be replenished with vitality. The dim silhouette standing in front of the ruins began to grow brighter and more visible, turning from a blur to crystal clear. She shook her head as though she just woke up from a dream and turned to Hao Ren.

The glimmering, broken soul glanced at the strangers in bewilderment. She did not seem to quite understand the situation she was in: she was the part that Hilda left in her hometown so, she did not know exactly what her body and another part of her, which possessed a persistent and unchangeable mind went through in another world. At the same time, she was puzzled by her current surroundings: the memory of this part of her soul was still frozen in the time of the space-time accelerator’s explosion, and she wondered why she was standing in a strange place. However, the confusion of her soul did not last long. When she recovered enough to accept the next fusion, Raven 12345’s power suddenly erupted. That soul fragment was directly sucked into the medical chamber.

The MDT immediately reminded them, “Her consciousness is beginning to revive. Quickly, send her back to the ship!”

Hao Ren did not dare to delay and immediately led the team, running back to the spaceship. He found the speed of the medical chamber too slow so, he pushed it to make it move faster. If it were not for the fear of injuring Hilda, he would have allowed Y’zaks to release some Flamebursts at the back of the medical chamber to push it forward. At last, they were back in the shuttle with the chamber and eventually, they returned to the medical bay of the Petrachelys Patrol Frigate.

After reconnecting the medical chamber to the system in the medical bay, the fusing process of Hilda’s soul came to an end. Everything seemed to be going well at that moment, and the system detected that Hilda’s consciousness was gradually reviving. The various anomalies in the soul were being restored at an alarming rate. Finally, amid the anticipating and nervous gazes, the silvery-white chamber opened bit by bit. And the elf queen, who had been in the jaws of death for more than a month, opened her eyes slowly. This time, she was “really” resurrected.

“All of you…” Hilda looked at the circle of people strangely and asked, “Why are all of you looking at me like that?”

Before Hao Ren could utter a word, Vimm ran to Hilda and said, “Mother! I am so glad that you are safe and sound.”

“Wait, wait, what is wrong with you… Behave yourself!” Hilda pushed Vimm away but, suddenly she seemed to realise something. “Wait a minute… I have a lot of things in my head. I just had a… Did something happen to me?”

“It’s something serious.” Now that Hao Ren got the opportunity to speak, he was finally relieved. He then laughed, spread his hands and said, “You almost scared us to death but, you were really dead at one point.”

More than 10 minutes later, Hao Ren and the others rushed to explain the situation earlier. Hilda was stunned. She could not believe that such a thing actually happened to her. “What you say is true? I was once… dead?”

“Strictly speaking, you began to die a month ago and it took you one month to die thoroughly. Then, you were rescued by a goddess within two hours after you completely died…”

Vivian stomped on Hao Ren’s foot, gnashed her teeth and said, “Keep your mouth shut if you don’t have anything nice to say!”

Hao Ren bared his teeth and jumped as he spoke angrily, “I was feeling all relaxed and got a little excited! Besides, she’s okay with it!”

Hilda looked at the noisy scene before her and looked at Vimm, who appeared perplexed. He wanted to speak but, he had to be serious due to his mother. She slowly began to accept reality. She jumped out of the medical chamber easily as if nothing had ever happened and said, “It seems that there are still too many things in this world that we do not know of and the road to knowledge is endless—Vimm, do not look so sad, you are the one who is going to succeed the throne.”

Then she smiled with a subtle expression and said, “This is really a very rare experience, a persistent and unchangeable mind… I did not realise that I still had this strength. I should thank the goddess. Otherwise, I would have missed the greatest moment in Aerym’s history… Uh, Lily, what is wrong with you?”

Lily had been staring at Hilda since the beginning with an incredulous look on her face. Then she pointed at the medical chamber and stammered, “Hil-Hilda… Don’t you think you’ve left something behind?”

“What is…?” Hilda looked back, puzzled. The rest of them looked behind her as well, and the next second, all of them fell into dead silence.

Hao Ren remained quiet for a few minutes and finally shouted, “What the hell?!”

Hilda’s body was still lying quietly in the medical chamber.

“How did this happen?” Vimm immediately exclaimed. At the same time, Hao Ren quickly discovered that something was slightly wrong with the Hilda who was standing outside the medical chamber: There seemed to be a faint glow around her. Her body had an ethereal vibe that was subtle yet, tangible. Although her “body” looked real, with careful observation, one would soon realise that the silhouette of her body was faintly translucent.

“Am I… a spirit?” Hilda was surprised at her own situation but, she was calmer than the others. The first thing she did was to make sure that her current state was different from the usual. However, she found that she was still the same as she always was: she could easily pick up an object next to her and her hand did not phase through the thing like that of a spirit would. She also touched Vivian’s hand to make sure she still had her body warmth.

Hilda looked normal—except, her body was still in the medical chamber.

Hao Ren hurriedly contacted Raven 12345. As expected, the goddess was waiting on the line, probably anticipating the results of Hilda’s resurrection. Hao Ren immediately heard her loud voice after he dialed her number. “Yo, Hao Ren, how is it? Did my Limited Custom Carnival Edition V2.0 of the Automatic Resurrection Kit work?”

“Bullsh*t!” Hao Ren almost choked because of Raven 12345. “Hilda is awake but, her soul has left her body and self-integrated into a separate body!”

“What?”

Hao Ren quickly explained the situation to Raven clearly. He also allowed the MDT to stream a video to Raven. Raven 12345 remained silent for a few seconds. She was probably organizing her thoughts or most likely, trying to come up with a more appropriate excuse. However, in the end, she said something useful, “Err… An unexpected situation. It seems that the spirit is quite in tune with my power or maybe the power I left in her body was a little bit too much… She has directly turned into a living holy spirit. Congratulations to Aerym. They now have an immortal guardian.”

Chapter 261: The Dawn Is Coming

 

Hao Ren was curious about what a living holy spirit was. He felt that it sounded pretty powerful. And so, Raven 12345 just explained it to him, “The holy spirit is not something made up by the Empire. In fact, it is a concept found in different human cultures, referring to heroic heroes who performed great deeds. Their souls are not extinguished after death instead, they turn into holy spirits. Two parts of Hilda’s soul appear to have been catalysed by my power in the process of being merged… Umm, it could also be something else. Now, she’s a different kind of life form, a whole new creature, powerful and immortal. She transformed into a holy spirit after being resurrected, so that’s why I’m calling her a living holy spirit.”

Hao Ren pondered and said, “It sounds pretty cool—but, will there be an aftereffect?”

“Theoretically, no.” Raven 12345’s voice did not sound reassuring. “Theoretically, she is not a virtual body and my strength has reshaped her physical form. So, she now has flesh and blood. She is real, like her old body has been replaced by a god-made body. Her old body can be discarded and the new body should allow her to live healthier. As for any aftereffects… well, because the body is glowing, she may easily frighten herself when she’s sleeping at night?”

Once Raven 12345 started to chat with him, he knew there was nothing to worry about regarding the matter. After asking Raven for some details on the problem, he disconnected the line and continued to observe Hilda’s bizarre state with interest. Hilda was also curious about her new body. She waved her arms gently and said, “There is nothing inconvenient about it. It is as good as the original body. Since the goddess claims that there is no problem with my new body, do not worry about it.”

“How are we going to explain this to the people?” Vimm frowned. “Mother, now… Umm, it is a bit out of our cognitive range.”

“Then, there is no need to explain.” Hilda waved her hand. “My personal matter is not important. Now, the most important thing is the great migration of Aerym. Let the people focus on this. Anyway, if you do not look at me closely, I look just like any ordinary elf. We will explain the situation to our people after the migration.”

Vimm nodded, but the next second, everybody inevitably fell into a state of total silence. Lily could not help but ask the most critical question. She lifted her hand, pointed to the medical chamber and asked, “…So, how are you going to deal with this?”

Everybody stared at Hilda’s “remains”. Even the MDT that always had a unique way of thinking was clueless about what to say. So, it decided to shut up and continued to pretend it was a coaster. Hao Ren pondered their predicament for some time and hesitantly suggested, “How about, we just dig a hole and bury it?”

Lily touched Hilda’s “remains”, immediately shook her head and said, “No, it’s still warm. The heart is still beating and it’s still breathing. It’ll feel like Hilda’s being buried alive if we bury it now.”

Hilda looked even more perplexed. She pinched her own remains and said, “I am perhaps the first elf to face such a distressing situation. I do not know how to deal with my own remains and I still need to discuss this with the others… Hmm, or we could just send it to the material recycling furnace. It will not be a waste to do so.”

Lily immediately shivered even more. “That’s even more horrifying than being buried alive.”

“What’s the elven burial ritual?” Vivian asked curiously.

“A funeral? We have not practiced this custom for several thousands of years. Now, dead elves are sent to the recycling furnace, all divided into ration points by quality without distinction…” Vimm explained, “…but my mother is… still alive, and her body does not seem to be dead… No, I do not have enough brain power to figure this out. Mother, you decide for yourself.”

Hilda looked like she totally had no idea what to do. No one had ever met such a difficult scenario hence, it was tough for her to discuss with the others on how to handle her remains. Watching her thinking hard, Hao Ren patted the MDT and asked, “Tell me, is the body alive or dead?”

“Physiologically, it is alive, but without a soul. It’s just carbon in an orderly chemical reaction. And because Raven’s power still remains in this body, it can keep the body this way forever even if it doesn’t eat or drink. To survive, the body will take energy from the surrounding space or use remnants of divine nature to create energy for itself. Anyway, it’s in a near-frozen state… This will still lead to a psychological hurdle, regardless of whether it’s buried or recycled in the furnace.” The MDT then sighed and continued, “You humans are strange. It’s just a shell that carries the main program, and you guys take it so seriously. Humans give too much meaning to these useless things and cause a lot of psychological problems for just changing a new shell, I—”

“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll give you a case of SpongeBob SquarePants! I asked about this in the Imperial Data Network two days ago. There’s a business that specializes in custom-made shells for Data Terminals like you. My one month’s worth of rationing points is enough to change 30,000 cases for you!”

The Data Terminal shut up at once.

Hilda was actually quite open-minded. As a standard elf of Aerym, she felt that throwing her useless body into the recycling furnace was not an issue. Despite the psychological pressure, she could bear it. However, Hao Ren, as a bystander, felt that it was not quite right to throw the body into the recycling furnace when it was still alive. In the end, he could only suggest that they leave the body there first. There was plenty of space on the Petrachelys anyway, and the ship usually remained idle. They may as well just make it a warehouse.

Hilda thanked Hao Ren, but Lily could not stop muttering, “Not so much a warehouse… Why does it feel more like a morgue?”

Hao Ren faked a smile while he looked at the husky and said, “This girl just doesn’t know how to sugarcoat the truth!”

Hilda’s problem was finally solved, and the great migration of Aerym was once again back on the queen’s desk. When she returned to her palace, she did not have time to rest. She immediately rushed to the Assembly of Elders’ Tower to preside over the important meeting, which had been postponed for several hours.

They went back to the lounge of the Royal Tower and waited for new progress. If there were no surprises, they would get wind of news soon enough.

As for Hilda’s “corpse”… Hao Ren was not thinking about it anymore. He kept the body in the medical chamber and locked it. Then, he put the entire chamber in the small garage behind the medical bay, leaving a self-regulatory machine specifically responsible for monitoring the body. After that, he put the matter aside. The Petrachelys had become a mortuary ship for the time being. He felt that something was not quite right, but it did not really matter at that point.

One had no choice. Working for immortals, one needed indestructible nerves as thick and strong as pillars. Otherwise, these immortals could bring you a lot of surprises, and those with a weak mind may become even more insane than Raven 12345 after two or three tasks. Hao Ren had to protect his mind: the most effective way was via self-hypnosis and being forgetful.

At the same time, the one billion elves outside the Royal Tower and across the island chain were waiting for news.

Vimm, following Hilda’s instructions, had released the notice of “big news”. Two hours ago, all of the broadcasting systems on the island chain of Aerym—the information screens that spread through the streets and homes of every household—played such a baffling emergency notice that the elves easily felt something big was about to happen. The notice was read out by representatives of the prince regent, the Assembly of Technocrats and the Assembly of Logisticians. It was only a short paragraph, which kept replaying:

“Attention to all the elves of Aerym, the whole country has entered a state of special mobilization. All citizens, please record your important personal belongings at hand, ensuring that the material transportation channels of all islands are unblocked. The citizens of transport, statistics, records and personnel-related departments need to return to work and ensure that your departments can operate at full capacity in the next 24 hours… This is a major preparatory event. This message will continue to be replayed and all citizens have the obligation to inform each other about this. Also, all citizens are requested to ensure that they are in contact with each other and if someone is missing, please report it immediately. It is important to ensure that all citizens are under social control to prevent omissions.”

There were many details following this message, basically to ensure that all the elves were ready for the great migration. At the same time, they had to make sure that every one of the elves would be able to receive new messages at any time during the next 24 hours. This was a great migration of one billion people and the preparation they had to do was extraordinary.

At the end of the message, the most important piece of information appeared. It was something all the hopeful elves were waiting for. “Please rest assured that this special mobilization is not a disaster. Her Majesty has returned, and she has brought us an unprecedented and inspiring hope. Please be prepared, the dawn is coming.”