Chapter 224: Chapter 224: The Other Side of This World Chapter 224: Chapter 224: The Other Side of This World “We can phase transition up to four people,” Asida and Asidora had already learned their mission through Sandora’s Spirit commands, and after looking at each other, they said, “However, if the person being transitioned is a Xyrin Emperor, the energy consumption will double.”
“So you mean to say that transitioning someone like Sandora or me once is equivalent to transitioning two people?” I understood the twins’ intention, then pondered briefly, “Either Sandora or I must remain outside to oversee the bigger picture. Sandora is more familiar with the Imperial Army, so it’s more appropriate for her to stay and command. That leaves two others to enter the parallel dimension with me…”
Suddenly, Sandora said, “Little Baobao must go with us.”
“Little Baobao?” I asked in surprise, “The child is going too? We don’t know what’s happening in the Central Machine Room, and it would be bad if there’s danger. Besides, she doesn’t understand anything, how can she help?”
“I know… but she is the Xyrin Host,” Sandora bent down, gently hugged the somewhat dazed Little Baobao, and then whispered, “I’m worried about worse situations occurring in the Central Machine Room. If something happens to Baobao, even if you could find her, we still wouldn’t be able to regain control over the fleet. Only her daughter could take over system control under such circumstances…”
I looked at the little girl who was gripping the hem of my clothes, licking a lollipop with curiosity at the sudden appearance of the twin sisters and occasionally scanning Alaya’s wings with her sparkling eyes while muttering a few phrases in an alien language—How can this little one have such expressive actions?—and suddenly felt that letting this little fool take over system control might be no better than being directly bombarded by an Eternal Level main cannon.
Just think about the consequences of giving all the nuclear bombs’ master switch to your niece who is not even five years old, and you’ll understand my concerns.
Not only me, even Qianqian and her sister wore a blank expression, as if they couldn’t imagine such a day-in, day-out eater, sleeper, and player, who knew nothing but to hang around adults for fun, seriously issuing orders as a core computer—Speaking of which, isn’t her mother only marginally better than her own daughter?
Sandora patted Little Baobao’s head, leaving the little one baffled, while she said to me with a smile, “Don’t worry, the captains and operators will still directly control the spaceships. Little Baobao will merely serve as a system platform that can coordinate the entire fleet. For the Xyrin Host, such a task is like an instinct, just as the autonomic nervous system in humans can unconsciously control the heartbeat. By the time Little Baobao stands in the main hub slot, everything will be set.”
“So it’s like a compatible version of Windows?” I understood, there shouldn’t be a problem with that… um, theoretically…
That means the ones undergoing phase transition will be me, Little Baobao, and one more spot left…
Unexpectedly, the one who volunteered was Qianqian.
“At least now, I can be of some help,” Qianqian said, looking into my eyes with a smile.
So that’s how it is, this silly girl. Because she didn’t know much about the Xyrin Army, didn’t understand battle command, nor did she have her sister’s ability to analyze situations calmly or Lin Xue’s superpower akin to a war cheat, she could only sit idly by during the battle just now, playing the role of a bystander. Just because of that, she came up with the idea that she was useless…
Cough, cough… Seems like I was about the same just now.
When it comes to tactical idiots, Qianqian and I are definitely the most standout two among our group, even Dingdang, that little thing, has accumulated astonishing war knowledge over its billion-year lifetime, a fact that brings tears to both Qianqian’s and my eyes.
Sandora, being so smart, of course, guessed Qianqian’s thoughts, then scanned her back and forth with an envious gaze and reluctantly nodded, “Qianqian is suitable. We only have thirty minutes—now only twenty five, but the time in the parallel dimension can slightly drift relative to the Main Material Plane. After completing the phase transition, Qianqian, you should immediately try to slow down time around you as much as possible. If possible, this range should ideally cover the entire Air Fortress to give us more time.”
Qianqian nodded, “Although I didn’t quite understand, I’ll do my best.”
…Honey, could you be a bit more subtle with the first half of your sentence? It’s kind of embarrassing…
“Let’s begin then,” said Sandora, motioning for everyone to step back a bit, while Qianqian and I stood together with Little Baobao standing between us, tightly holding our hands and occasionally looking up curiously at “mom and dad,” babbling her own queries.
“Just like a family of three…” Lin Xue suddenly commented dryly from the side, her gaze towards me nakedly filled with the message, “You’re forever a dad.”
Unfortunately, before I could express my opinion, Asida and Asidora had already taken positions to our left and right. Accompanied by violent spatial fluctuations, our surroundings instantly collapsed into scattered fragments.
It felt like only a moment had passed, and the collapsed fragments in front of our eyes quickly reassembled into a complete scene—still the wide command room, each chair, each instrument just as we had seen seconds ago, but everything was different.
Not a soul in sight—the sisters, Sandora, Pandora, and the others who had just stood before us were now nowhere to be seen. I had anticipated this; this was merely an “Other Space” located at the same spatial coordinates as the command room. Though the settings mirrored those of the command room, it was unmistakably empty—well, I couldn’t say it was completely devoid of people, as the sisters were actually still standing in front of us. Due to a phase shift, however, we could no longer perceive each other, similar to how ordinary humans can’t see the continuous electromagnetic waves around them; we and the sisters had become beings of different dimensions.
In front of us, various instruments that had been buzzing just seconds ago now fell silent; the flashing display machines turned a dull gray, and the entire command room—now better termed the Central Machine Room—was filled with a uniform pale blue glow, yet oddly, all the lights overhead were off.
Brilliantly lit and bustling one second, cold and desolate the next, like a death zone. Although I knew this was a normal phenomenon when entering a parallel dimension, I still felt a ghostly chill down my spine.
Well, although I normally had a ghost-like creature that glowed automatically following me around.
“Mom… Mommy… that… mmmh… that…”
Little Baobao suddenly pointed towards a crystal prism at the front end of the hall, calling out in her baby voice, her muddled language for the first time forming a logically understandable structure that clarified her point to me.
Following the direction of Little Baobao’s finger, I finally saw that this Central Machine Room wasn’t exactly like the command room; at the very least, the crystal prism, clearly serving as the slot for the Xyrin Host, was not something that should have appeared in the command room—and Baobao was probably inside that prism.
I scooped up Little Baobao in an instant, and Qianqian and I ran towards the crystal prism.
Beneath the prism, we saw a core computer lying on the floor, engrossed in a PSP game.
…Should I be crying or laughing right now?
Noticing the movement nearby, Little Loli, utterly immersed in her game world, finally looked up. Seeing us, she unashamedly stood up and cheerily said, “Ah, Emperor Chen Jun and Lady Qianqian are here… and Little Baobao too?”
“…Are you still calm right now? Our fortress has lost control!”
Baobao awkwardly scratched her head and then spoke somewhat dejectedly, “I know the fortress has lost control, and if I’m not mistaken, the entire fleet must be paralyzed due to program interference, but… there’s nothing I can do about it now…”
As she spoke, Baobao stretched out her small hand and patted the crystal prism behind her.
“I was forcibly ejected from the slot, and this eject command was locked with the highest level password.”