Chapter 6: The Turmoil at the Port

Every month, Deep Blue suddenly “materializes” two to three lost individuals on its city streets.

These lost individuals are very easy to identify: They have no records of entry or exit whatsoever, leaving not even a trace in the vast kingdom’s household registration documents. Neither the combat space fortresses orbiting the planet nor Deep Blue City’s defense system detect any signs of illegal intrusion (obviously, since they were residents within the city from the start).

Many citizens of Deep Blue have personally witnessed these lost individuals spontaneously appearing before them on the bustling streets.

These time travelers, clad in peculiar attire and speaking languages clearly not from the White Whale Galaxy, often find themselves surrounded by curious passersby before the urban patrol officers can arrive. As the kingdom continuously updates its records with information about this lost culture, an increasing number of well-informed citizens are able to offer commentary during such sightings, simultaneously enjoying the “panicked” reactions of these temporal wayfarers—a spectacle akin to observing creatures frozen in time.

“Who said those bats were boring? Who exactly?”

A withered old man, bald-headed and emaciated, lay in the cockpit. An automatic mechanical arm delivered him a fragrant cup of steaming hot coffee. His head was encased within a translucent golden hoop suspended in mid-air as he hummed with uncontainable delight:

“Where can you find such entertainment—pleasing both dark races and humans alike, while also enjoying themselves immensely? Tsk tsk, praise Satan! Many years ago, I already knew that vampires’ acting skills far surpassed ours; they truly excel at weaving lies.”

Along the curved metal wall ran a row of complex instruments and buttons, their lights flickering with varying intensities.

The old man picked up his coffee, savoring a comfortable sip before tilting his head to continue watching the video playing on his photobrain.

“Haha, this little fellow is truly ingenious! Look at those proportions, that broad back… An Athena City-State guard—a most admirable profession indeed! So sleek and glossy—it would make an excellent subject for black magic experiments…” The old man chuckled foolishly, falling just short of drooling.

At that moment, a button inside the cockpit began sounding persistently, emitting a shrill buzzing noise.

In this state, the old man rose from his soft chair, still wearing his photobrain. As he watched the video, he nonchalantly fumbled his way towards the wall, muttering under his breath:

“May Meredith’s blessings protect you. Hello, this is Deep Blue’s Meredith Royal Port. How may we assist you?”

From the other end of the communication came a roar:

“Suta! You can’t even tell if this is normal communication or an internal contact within the Dark Parliament—you old scum! Were you watching videos at work again? Take off your photobrain!”

“Haha, dear Duke Richard, that viscount from your family, his figure truly is superb!” The old man—none other than Father Su Ta from Meteorite Town—swayed as he spoke, “Poor Marquis Joachim, completely robbed of viewership now, reduced to a supporting role with pitifully few screen time slots.”

The voice on the other end ground its teeth:

“Shut up, Suta. According to the Dark Parliament’s supreme constitution, dark races under parliamentary jurisdiction have the obligation to assist each other. Quickly mobilize your manpower; help the vampires capture a human in the city district aboveground!”

“A human?” Old Wizard Suta squawked. “What about your vampire commandments, Duke? Avoiding the world, remember?”

“He’s a time traveler.”

“Huh?”

“A genuine lost human!”

The old wizard smacked his lips, revealing an odd smile. “Hey, today isn’t April Fool’s Day from the ancient Earth era.”

“Who would joke with you about this?! I’ll immediately send you the video footage of that human. I suspect he might be one of those ancient Earth demon hunters. For the secrecy of the Dark Parliament, we must eliminate him!”

Father Su Ta was utterly bewildered, still unable to believe it. “Duke Richard, you’re not tricking me, right? This isn’t some new entertainment spectacle for your vampires, is it?”

“…”

“This truly is fascinating!” The old wizard rubbed his hands together, brimming with enthusiasm. “Hurry up and transfer the data over here…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the button on the instrument panel by the wall beeped again—this time shrill and piercing.

“Oh!”

Father Su Ta hastily removed the half-transparent metal ring of his photobrain. As he watched, the instrument automatically rotated and connected; when its display mirrored onto the cockpit’s glass wall, showing a map of the cosmic starry sky, his eyes suddenly widened in amazement.

A robotic voice resonated through the cabin:

“Attention all staff at Meredith Royal Port: The Andros has approached the orbit of Deep Blue.”

In the virtual star chart, a pitch-black warship appeared. Dozens of planet-destroying cannons densely lined both sides of its wings, supplemented by hundreds of bio-particle beam cannons forming broad, raven-black pinions. Surrounded at the very center by thirty massive warships, it was hurtling towards a cluster of azure planets.

A strange rasping sound emerged from old wizard Suta’s throat as he leaped up and bellowed into the channel reserved exclusively for the Dark Parliament:

“Duke Richard Bat, go find another dark archmage! Damn you all—make sure that human is eliminated within half an hour… before Andros lands!”

Without waiting for a response, he rudely jabbed down on the button again and began fiddling with the instrument panel beside it. Then, he once more shouted into the microphone:

“All dark mages, vampires, weres… fellow citizens belonging to the Dark Parliament, pay attention immediately!”

This voice echoed in secret structures unknown to humans. Countless members of the dark races froze in astonishment, blankly gazing up at their automatically connected communication devices.

“Regardless of whether you’re studying the mysteries of magic, disguising yourselves as humans to enjoy life, or tracking your dinner targets—hurry up and finish! Emergency notification: The Andros, which has been on an expedition to the southern planetary system of our kingdom, is about to return to Deep Blue…”

A torrent of curses erupted instantly.

Red wine and coffee spilled across the floor, while wizards’ crystal balls rolled noisily in all directions. Several experimental vessels undergoing tests exploded, leaving their operators with faces streaked black from soot.

The wizards frantically wiped and rubbed at their faces, striving to appear gentle and kindly, at most resembling nothing more than shriveled old men.

Vampires darted into bathrooms at speeds imperceptible to the human eye, swiftly grooming themselves from head to toe until they looked pristine once again. Low-rank vampires who failed to sufficiently mask their aura hastily fled entertainment venues, rushing into one secret hideout after another.

Beasts shifted their stances, each burly figure transforming significantly within moments. At least they no longer stealthily licked their noses with their tongues nor drooled over raw meat displayed in shops. Instead, they maintained their disguises as elite soldiers or shadowy street thugs impeccably. As for those beasts whose bodies were too hairy to conceal properly, they were rudely stuffed into basements without exception.

To every dark race present, Old Wizard Suta’s final proclamation echoed unmistakably in their ears:

“The holder of Raymond Gaeton—the Cyrus—is back!”

As the fleet of warships approached this entirely aquatic azure planet ever closer, the thirty warship groups escorting the flagship Andros gradually dispersed. Within the star system where Deep Blue resided were two other terraformed habitable planets, along with numerous space warship docking platforms scattered throughout the system. Many of these escort vessels would proceed there for rest and replenishment.

In the end, only ten black, long-spear-shaped ghost ships remained accompanying Andros. They pierced through the blockade line formed by massive fortresses in low Earth orbit, beginning their descent into Deep Blue’s atmosphere.

The flames and high temperatures generated by friction were silently extinguished by the warships’ energy shields.

Sky and sea alike were engulfed as colossal shadows loomed overhead, whipping up tempestuous winds and towering waves across the ocean surface.

One by one, the warships’ power cores and engines shut down. Slowly gliding through the sky, they drew near an expansive stretch of maritime ice plain.

At the far edge of this frozen expanse lay the sole landmass on the entire planet.

A dome resembling an inverted giant bowl enveloped the city completely; beneath this luminous shield lay the thick fog, within which faintly discernible buildings stood shrouded.

The warship anchorage at the city’s perimeter bustled with activity, commands relayed one after another amidst an air of extraordinary tension.

“Initiate docking procedure with the floating platform!”

A massive platform hundreds of meters wide slowly extended from the harbor front. It automatically unfolded like a blanket that had been laid flat, and within three minutes, both its width and length reached several kilometers.

“Prepare to connect with ‘Andumari’! Requesting deactivation of defense systems.”

The operators in the harbor control tower immediately began typing furiously on their keyboards. They had to navigate through various complex verification systems, input authorization codes, and finally submit the request to awaken the dormant city defense system.

“Request approved.”

That mechanical voice, which had nearly pursued Wen Luan earlier, sounded again:

“Andumari at ten percent activation. Deactivating regional defenses; permission granted for entry into port. Commencing inbound scan verification… An—”

A peculiar burst of electrical static disrupted the mechanical voice, rendering all subsequent sounds meaningless chirps and hisses.

Everyone in the harbor control tower was stunned. Even the communicator aboard the warship outside exclaimed incredulously into his microphone, “Andumari?”

Could something have gone wrong?

In the command cabin of the Andros warship, all eyes simultaneously turned towards one person.

Numbers and images flickered on the screen, their reflections intertwining across his face. Surrounded by a crowd of people, he gazed expressionlessly at the port and city district displayed beneath the warship on the monitor.

His long hair was golden, matching his equally golden eyes. Clad in a white formal suit perfectly tailored to his figure, his slender legs were encased from the knee down in high boots. The boot fronts were adorned with overlapping layers of golden buckles, though it was unclear what material they were made from.

The cuffs and collar of his suit revealed exquisite brown edges, while each button was crafted from finely polished dark red crystals.

Tall and imposing, his physique—accentuated by the form-fitting suit—was lean yet powerful. His facial features curved with mathematical precision; pale lips pressed firmly together, piercing gaze sharp as ever. He exuded an aura of strength tinged with coldness, along with the unmistakable presence of one accustomed to wielding authority. With not even a single button left unfastened, extending all the way up to his neck, he revealed no hint of skin—not unlike a ascetic monk sworn to abstinence.

No statue could rival his allure, even if hailed as a work of art. Illuminated by the chaotic dance of light on the screens, he resembled the most resplendent oil painting from a lost civilization. Every angle of his silhouette evoked an ethereal sense of something forever lost at the far reaches of time itself.

“Andumari?” He inclined his head slightly, issuing a command to Deep Blue Star’s city defense system. “Cease computations and allow me passage through the defenses. Dock the warship at the harbor.”

“Confirming Raymond Gaeton holder’s command: Warship land, allow the holder to pass through the energy defense layer—thud!“

With a deafening roar, the entire city district’s protective shield began to tremble, causing people to panic and rise from their seats.

On the warship, the blonde figure with golden eyes suddenly stiffened, as if losing his balance, and toppled backward.

“Cyrus?”

“My lord, what’s wrong?”

Chaos reigned aboard both the warship and at the port; no one noticed that “Andumari” was still emitting confused noises.

Due to its disarray, the sounds it produced were incomprehensible to all present:

“Holders, double-check—still two holders.

Command confirmed: Allow the holder to ‘pass’ through the defense layer—then permit Andros to enter the harbor. One holder enters from outside while forcing another holder out from within. Um, calculation result: does not violate the command.

Holder status: Unconscious… Both are unconscious.

No new commands received… Andumari entering hibernation mode.”

Under the vast shadow cast by the warship, not a single person noticed when someone abruptly appeared on the ice field below the harbor—Wen Luan had been ejected from the city by the urban defense system itself.