Xyrin Empire

The mysterious girl apparition on the moon's surface led the stumbling lunar rover to a gigantic crystal-like meteorite, and then vanished as suddenly as she had appeared, without any warning in front of everyone.

The staff in the ground control hall were a bit at a loss due to the unexpected scene before them. In fact, they had been at a loss ever since before: no one knew what the presence of this mysterious figure on the moon, which was almost impossible to discern rationally, actually meant, nor did anyone know why she guided the lunar lander here. Driven by instinct, the commander of the "Dark Side of the Moon" mission issued the order to follow the figure, but what should they do after following her? And what should be done after she disappeared?

Nobody knew, so after Lilina suddenly disappeared, the lunar rover's ground control hall fell into a brief state of confusion and helplessness.

But this state only lasted for a very short time. After all, the people present were the best among humans, they came here to explore the unknown and naturally should have been prepared to face all unexpected situations—although a mysterious girl apparition suddenly appearing on the moon was a bit too unexpected.

In any case, someone soon realized that there are other things to do now.

"This is the meteorite that crashed into the moon!"

Someone quickly reached an exciting conclusion based on the data fed back by the lunar rover: the stone in front of the camera, which is so giant like a small hill and into which the mysterious girl's image disappeared, is not lunar material.

It carries very intense "Zero" energy fluctuations and has spectral characteristics that are entirely different from any known mineral. The simple analysis equipment of the lunar rover conducted an on-site measurement, discovering that this huge rock has very high hardness and an incredibly complex structure. These characteristics combined are enough to prove that this giant rock is a meteorite from outer space.

Moreover, this meteorite is actually just a fragment. When the lunar rover was taking panoramic photos, people discovered that there are many things around that are close in material to this meteorite, leading the experts in the control hall to immediately conclude that this stone as large as a hill is actually a fragment of an asteroid, whose main body split into many fragments after impacting the moon and scattered at the bottom of the impact crater. The one in front of the lunar rover is just one of them.

If we really want to understand what the mysterious girl's sudden appearance and disappearance mean, the only answer can only possibly be found on this meteorite.

The lunar lander's mechanical arm began to work frantically, striving to cut samples that could be brought back from this meteorite.

Nobody knew that this huge alien visitor was actually placed there intentionally by certain individuals, merely to serve as a gift left for Earthlings. We watched the entire process of what happened on the moon's surface and in a ground control station somewhere in Europe, our expressions somewhat subtle.

The space beside me trembled slightly, a water-like space fold flashed by, and then a petite, lovely little girl wearing a green dress, covered all over with moon dust, appeared by the sofa.

Lilina lowered her head, trying hard to appear as if she is seriously observing her toes. I turned my head to glance at this troublemaker, who instantly felt it and quickly squatted on the ground holding her head, wailing aloud: "Waaah—Boss, don't hit the face! A Loli should have the right to three major pardons for terrible mistakes every month! As a qualified Loli Fan, you should display broad-mindedness and benevolent love at this time. In consideration of me practicing every day in the room to warm the bed for you in the future, please spare Lilina this time..."

"What a mess..."

I broke out in a cold sweat under the strange gazes of Ding Ling and the other three onlookers, then reached out and picked up the Fake Lolita Priestess, who almost squatted into a ball on the floor, and handed her over to Big Sister.

"Sis, you discipline her, this kid will be completely hopeless if not."

"No no no waa!" Lilina flailed her limbs in panic while in mid-air, howling as tragically as if she's being sent to college entrance exams, "I know I was wrong, don't spank me, how will I live in front of the believers in the future! Boss, just show a bit of leniency and spare me, I might be hopeless, but I can go cause trouble for others for you in the future, just point out anyone you don't like and I'll infiltrate them, I guarantee to trouble them to kingdom come inside half a month, discount-free, this is efficient utilization of resources, right? Hegel once said, seizing opportunities makes no one a fool..."

"Are you sure this girl's mind is still normal?"

Lin Feng almost exclaimed in a low voice with an astonished expression as he listened to this little guy, only 1.09 meters, cry out so energetically in mid-air. Even when familiar with the First Family's style, he couldn't help it. I could only bring Lilina back into my arms with a few pats and throw her into a basket to the side: "Get used to it, she's just this quirky. She was stimulated back then—don't try crawling out! Pleas won't work this time, reflect in the basket for two hours, and write a 2,000-word self-criticism tomorrow!"

Lilina whimpered and sobbed as she crawled back into the basket, starting to plan her self-criticism.

To be honest, causing trouble has really become a norm for Lilina. Every time she leads her group of Temple Knights to preach in the Macro World, we almost always receive reports and complaints uploaded by local Reviewers or Special Envoys, with content like the biggest Little Archbishop of Loli version's mischievous influence on the natives' worldview, or her self-proclaimed benevolent methods wreaking havoc on the world's ecological environment. Almost every time the turmoil is too fierce, she will have to face punishment upon return, with the most common punishment being handed over to Big Sister, who drags her to a room for a spanking. Yes, spanking, this traditional martial art against lolis and shotalas truly works magnificently in our family, shining ever since I was five years old till today. Only, the one getting spanked evolved from a mischievous shotala to a troublesome loli, and the spanker switched from an oversized loli to a terrifying Onee-san...

Despite being always spanked till tears welled in her eyes and she cried loudly, Lilina is a fascinating being who never repents. She still firmly progresses on the path of causing trouble. Today's antics are mild compared to her usual earth-shattering ones; sometimes, I even can't help but suspect this girl does it on purpose, using mischief to increase her sense of presence, to make others pay attention to her. According to professional psychology, this mentality is termed... Well, that's what I think.

"What exactly are those meteorites for?"

I could no longer suppress my curiosity and nudged Sandora's arm, "Can you reveal the mystery now?"

"What do you think?" Sandora didn't answer directly, instead pinching my chin with a playful smile.

"Couldn't they contain Ghost Energy Crystals?"

I smirked; I had already listened very clearly over the monitoring channel. Scientists at the ground station found high-intensity Ghost Energy Reactions in the massive crystal meteorite on the moon. Of course, what they called high intensity was relative to Earthlings; that bit of faint radiation was already enough to make the lunar rover's electronic equipment wobbly, but to a Xyrin Apostle...

Pandora's sneeze's energy intensity far exceeds that.

With that, my first intuition was that Sandora left behind a large stone containing trace amounts of Ghost Energy Crystal Powder at the prearranged impact site. Was she trying to stimulate the development of mankind's energy technology with this?

Of course, this speculation is incorrect, and sure enough, Sandora shook her head decisively: "Of course not, I can't possibly give humans Ghost Energy; that would be too dangerous. The Ghost Energy inside that stone will soon deplete completely. Its energy readings are just for show, to make Earth scientists believe it's the culprit behind the energy burst on the moon. What's truly valuable..."

Sandora had barely finished speaking when the surprised exclamations from those Earth scientists suddenly came through the monitoring channel:

"Organic material! The meteorite contains complex organic material!"

Sandora laughed and continued, "It's to tell them that this universe isn't desolate."

I was stunned and finally understood what Sandora's so-called gift was.

A meteorite rich in complex organic matter, perhaps even containing microorganisms — a life sample from the depths of the universe, beyond Earth.

"Humans should focus their attention on the sky; only a civilization that contemplates the heavens has the potential for continuous development," Sandora said philosophically, "I quite like this planet, but the creatures on it don't seem to know what they should truly focus on. They've wasted too much time on meaningless internal strife and trivial matters, like standing by a banquet fighting over a single peanut... Speaking of banquets, I'm a bit hungry..."

Everyone: "..."

Dingdang jumped onto the table with a plop, holding up a peanut: "Dingdang thinks that peanuts are very important. One meal with one peanut can make you full!"

Everyone fell silent again.

In any case, that's the situation. What Sandora had Visca place on the moon were, in fact, some meteorites with traces of life. One can imagine the enormous impact this will have on humanity. However, for us, the most important thing is that this gift won't affect humanity's normal development: it won't bring any direct technological advancement or knowledge, but it gives all of humanity a motivation and a goal: now, Earthlings can look up at the sky; it's not a desolate place.

As for the origin of that meteorite, Sandora also mentioned it casually. It's actually a large chunk of Salon Evil Iron ore, extracted from Azeroth, which is the best place to extract life samples. Life forms are similar to those on Earth, but not a single cell is the same as any on Earth, and all life forms contain Azeroth's special elemental energy. I believe this chaotic stuff is enough to excite human scientists to the point of cerebral hemorrhage, and then Earth will usher in a great space exploration era — that's obvious.

Meanwhile, those in the command hall for the "Dark Side of the Moon" operation in Europe were hurrying to direct the moon car to collect more lunar surface samples, while waiting for new orders from higher-ups.

The heads of various countries, authorities in the space domain, life science experts, aerospace geologists, these groups with absolute say in the "Dark Side of the Moon" plan, were conducting an emergency internal meeting online. Only those with the most authoritative voice in various domains, including political and scientific fields, could participate in this meeting. Although like all other global channels, this meeting was also monitored by the Empire's intelligence department, no one else in the world would know the contents of this meeting.

These bigshots were discussing something that could potentially change the entire world, and the differing considerations from different fields had turned the discussion into a near-argument. The sharpest conflict was between scientists and politicians: Should humanity know what was discovered on the lunar surface?

Peeling back the layers, the simplest way to restore it is to a story fit to be a fairy tale: a lunar rover landed on the barren lunar surface, discovered a little girl who could run and jump in an environment where life absolutely couldn't survive in outer space. This little girl was eventually determined to be a non-physical phantom. This phantom consciously guided the lunar rover forward, found a huge meteorite that fell on the moon, and then scientists discovered life traces in the meteorite...

This is enough material to make a 90-minute sci-fi movie anywhere.

Politicians and scientists were still debating where this little girl came from, and another topic of their debate was: Should the discovery of life signs in the meteorite be made public, and to whom should it be disclosed, and to what extent?

The scientists' views were, of course, pragmatic and simple. To maximize the informational value and attract more people to focus on uncovering secrets of space, they desperately wanted this news to spread across the world immediately, letting all of humanity know they saw a lively "life soul" on the moon and discovered a meteorite rich in microorganisms. In doing so, the entire world would undoubtedly experience a space exploration and technological development frenzy: the power generated when humans unite and focus on the same thing is terrifying.

However, politicians don't see it that way. They are more worried about what kind of chaos the shock caused by this news being made public would trigger. Before today, "there's other life in space" was always just a conjecture. Humanity has exhausted efforts yet failed to find concrete evidence of extraterrestrial life, and today, extraterrestrial life has practically declared its existence in such an earth-shattering manner by crashing above humanity's heads in an overwhelming fashion. But are humans ready to accept this fact?

Humanity isn't alone in the universe, and Earth isn't the only cradle of life. These shocking pieces of information will inevitably stimulate the whole society, regardless of whether this inspiration is good or bad, overly emotional citizens remain a situation that politicians don't wish to see. This implies poor manageability, implying that many might take advantage of the chaos, stirring up disorder, for instance, selling luck-changing beads claimed to be blessed by aliens on Wutai Mountain or declaring oneself as a Martian who stranded on Earth. These are just minor issues; if a group of anti-human individuals takes the opportunity to announce that the meteorite contains a world-destroying alien virus, and 2012 is arriving soon, now that would be hilarious: civilians would definitely prefer believing that, and then within twenty-four hours, bottled water prices would skyrocket to match gasoline prices in supermarkets...

So politicians and scientists clashed over this issue. One side, with a rigorous academic attitude and a sense of responsibility for knowledge, declared that today's discovery should be the wealth of all humanity, even if it can't be immediately disclosed to the general public, it should be shared with scholars from other fields. The other side, with a concern for maintaining social stability and order, stubbornly insisted that once this matter got leaked, supermarket bottled water prices would skyrocket to gasoline prices; both sides quarreled for nearly fifteen minutes in the online meeting until an explosive piece of news rendered everyone dumbfounded.

The Moon exploration live feed, once cut off with the excuse of signal interference and substituted with various advertisements, had started broadcasting globally again now!

Broadcasting alone wasn't enough; what's being broadcast now was the footage after the lunar rover encountered that mysterious girl image on the moon, a semitransparent little girl's projection mysteriously disappearing, a crystal-textured giant meteorite, and even the noisy voices at the ground control center with a commander's loud report!

Things that should absolutely not be released casually were being broadcast live globally.

The head of the operation was dumbfounded on the spot, then began sweating white hair exploring who had the audacity to publicly broadcast these pieces, which were supposed to be national secrets, on satellite channels. However, a few minutes later, the feedback from the tracing made these responsible people feel instantly powerless.

Conducting the global broadcast were several communication satellites, and these satellites had long been out of control: after the energy eruption on the lunar surface days earlier, these were among the first batch to burn out, completely damaged and irreparable. But now, no one had expected these satellites to suddenly resume operation and enter a completely uncontrollable bizarre state. Since just now, they have been continuously downloading signals sent by the lunar rover and broadcasting them globally now.

Simultaneously, over one hundred million people were instantly watching these shocking images, and with the loud voices of the first batch of audiences on the balcony, this number nearly doubled within minutes...

Now it's too late to recover everything — with such a global-scale broadcast, exerting the effort for an official refutation would be futile, it's useless except to exhaust themselves like dead dogs.

The culprit behind all this is, of course, without thinking, the First Family's bored Imperial Leaders...

"Well done, but remember to destroy those satellites after the broadcast to save trouble."

I gently pinched Visca's little cheek, praising.

Just now, this little girl instantly hacked into the global satellite network and screened those moon footages that politicians were unwilling to make public, globally broadcasting them, instantly causing worldwide government heads to break into a cold sweat. Then she cleverly shifted the blame onto those communication satellites already burnt out by a Ghost Energy Storm, perhaps experts will speculate later that those burnt satellites accidentally restored a bit of their functionality for a brief moment, then broadcasted these dangerous pieces out, but the true facts will remain a mystery, perpetually a headless case — Visca had already sent Floating Cannons to eliminate those satellites, within hours they would crash into the atmosphere.

"A new era," Lin Xue lowered her head and scratched Yakumo Lan's furry ears by the sofa, sounding delighted, "Earthlings can finally wake up."

In a burst of excitement, Lilina crawled out of her basket, jumped onto the coffee table, holding a Bible and her Pope Scepter, solemnly shouted: "Mortals, you are not alone..."

I slapped her down: "Go write a report!" (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my largest motivation.)