Vengeance Legion

Looking at the fifty Shilin Warriors standing neatly at attention before me, I, a half-baked Shilin Emperor, felt immense pressure.

It felt a little like wearing a fake police uniform and carrying a fake badge to swindle people on the streets every day, only to suddenly run into a squad of big, burly real cops one day. Except my situation was even worse. They were not ordinary cops but fully armed Shilin Warriors, and I had not merely worn a fake uniform—I had become their emperor and even abducted one of their Empire Generals. God knew how they identified an Shilin Emperor's NT-Level Authority. If Pandora's identification system had malfunctioned before, then I was in for some fun now...

Just as my nerves were about to snap, the warrior leading them finally spoke. "Authority verification complete... It is an honor to meet you, unfamiliar Emperor. We are the loyal warriors of the great Shilin Emperor Sandora. I am Carmen-3575, a position-defense heavy infantryman."

My heart finally dropped back into place with a thump.

No matter what method they had used to judge my authority, it seemed that my identity as emperor was still universally recognized for now.

Unlike me, who knew little about them, Pandora immediately understood their background from the introduction. She swiftly pulled another sign from behind her back. It read: "Are you the Vengeance Legion?"

The big soldier before us snapped into another salute and answered loudly, "Yes, Commander!"

Watching such a formidable uncle solemnly salute a loli and call her Commander, why did I find it so hilarious?

But compared to the humor, I was more interested in the name of their legion. Did the title "Vengeance Legion" carry some unusual significance? Or was it merely the name of a legion, like the Pandora Heavy Armored Legion currently mooching food and drink on Earth?

Pandora saw the confusion on my face. Having gotten to know me somewhat, she immediately guessed what I was curious about and explained through Spiritual Connection, "Emperor Sandora was a Shilin Emperor famous for her belligerence. She once led a legion alone on an expedition into the Seventh Sky Sector and destroyed twenty guilty civilizations in twelve consecutive years. She was known as the War Song Princess. The Vengeance Legion was Emperor Sandora's main force, renowned for its powerful positional warfare capabilities and the suicide attacks of its avengers—records end here. This legion's last expedition record was an expedition to the Helenda Star System—time error—an unknown period ago. After that, the Empire entered dormancy, and we lost all information regarding this legion."

I nodded, then turned to the heavy infantryman who called himself Carmen-3575. "How long have you been in this world? It would be best if you could give me a detailed account of your experiences here."

"Since losing contact with the Empire fifty-seven thousand years ago, we have been stranded in this world. Most spatial equipment, including the long-range Space Transition System, was disrupted by unknown energy and could not be activated. During this period, we have been engaged in continuous war against a certain force here that has been corrupted by the Abyss. Only recently did some of our equipment partially resume operation. My soldiers and I were ordered to come to this region and test whether the long-range Space Transition System could be activated through the Sylvis Space Positioning Method. But as you can see, we were attacked by a large group of magical beasts."

I nodded solemnly. "Mm, the information you reported is extremely valuable." Then I turned to Pandora and asked, "What did he mean?"

Lin Xue broke out in a cold sweat. "So you listened for all that time and did not understand a thing? Then what were you acting so serious for?!"

Even Pandora's placid face flashed with a trace of strange expression. Then she raised the ever-present, ever-changing sign again. "It means they were trapped in this world around sixty thousand years ago and have been fighting ever since. Only recently has their situation changed somewhat."

Why did she not just say that from the start? Why add so much technical jargon? Who could understand it?

A war that had lasted nearly sixty thousand years... Probably only those warriors could endure something like that. It was hard to imagine how they had spent those sixty thousand years. What surprised me even more was that, given the legion's terrifying destructive power, this planet had not been completely destroyed after all that time. It even seemed to have fairly good environmental protection. It was simply unbelievable. After thinking it over, I could only attribute it to the author being too lazy to write more...

At that moment, Carmen suddenly spoke. "Respected Emperor Chen Jun, our Emperor has already received news of your arrival and invites you to visit our main base."

I froze for a moment, then understood. Shilin Apostles could conduct long-range spiritual connections at any time. The other side had probably contacted the Shilin Emperor named Sandora while reporting to me earlier.

If I had received an invitation from a Shilin Emperor before meeting Carmen, I would never have dared to go—God knew whether my inexplicably acquired identity as emperor would pass before the real thing. But now that I had basically confirmed that my identity could pass their authority verification system, I was quite interested in meeting that genuine Shilin Emperor.

I nodded. "How far is your main base from here?"

Carmen answered, "Approximately one quarter of the way around this planet."

Me: "..."

Pandora moved her arms, then turned her gaze toward Lin Xue and me. Every muscle in my body immediately twitched—if we really traveled according to Pandora's usual methods, the two fragile Carbon-Based Lifeforms would definitely die!

Fortunately, what we feared did not happen—their vehicle could still fit the three of us.

Little Star Line

Sitting in the upper-class cabin of the Shilin troop carrier, Lin Xue excitedly wandered around everywhere, looking as though she wished she could find a screwdriver and dismantle one of the instruments for research.

After quite a while, I could not stand it anymore, so I stepped forward and pressed her into a chair. "All right, all right. Could you stop embarrassing Earthlings?"

"A spaceship! This is a spaceship!" Even pinned to the chair, Lin Xue remained restless, waving her arms as she spoke. "An alien spaceship! The real deal! Have we already reached outer space?"

"Did you not hear them say this is only an atmospheric shuttle? Hey—stop moving around. Are you going to repair it if you break it?"

Hearing that, Lin Xue gave up on randomly pressing all the buttons. Then she looked at me with awe and said, "I still cannot believe it. You really are the emperor of this... whatever?"

"You have repeated that seventeen times already."

"Are you really human?"

"You have asked that even more..."

"Amazing..."

"Hey, you are at least a high-ranking leader of the Esper Team, right? You are also the first human to formally make contact with aliens. Could you at least act like an important person?"

"Look who's talking. Do you have the bearing of an important person?"

"...Forget I said anything."

If nobody told you, could you connect this scene with a historic meeting between the Head of State of the Empire and the leader of humanity's Esper Team?

Lin Xue was still excited, and I could not be bothered with her anymore. Instead, I curiously asked Pandora, who had remained silent at the side, "Pandora, do you know anything else about that Shilin Emperor named Sandora?"

"She possessed astonishing battlefield command ability," Pandora's sign read.

"What else?" I asked.

A huge X appeared on the sign.

Pandora, had you really never cared about anything except matters related to war?

It seemed I still had a long way to go before turning Pandora into a normal, well-behaved loli who liked dolls and acted cute with Brother...

Just then, we suddenly felt a faint tremor.

The cabin door slid open soundlessly. Carmen walked in, saluted me, and said, "Report! We have arrived at the base!"