The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns Chapter 261: The Mysterious Astral Guardians

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I had requested Karel the Martian to translate the table for me, and he did so rather swiftly.

“We leave here the proof of our existence to the universe outside. For the life of the Red or the Blue Stars, if you ever reach this point, congratulations, you have walked past the cradles of life into the universe beyond. Your journey is only beginning. It might be filled with pain and fear, but the wonders you will see across the endless horizon will make up for all the effort. We leave here a map. If one day you can travel through the stars, you’re invited to our home planet, where life was truly born. We, the Astral Guardians, will welcome you with open arms into the Primordial Cradle.”

What I heard from him left me with a bit of intrigue… Does this mean that these Astral Guardians were the ones that seeded life into Earth?

I had not imagined that to be the case; I truly just imagined life was born naturally… Or perhaps they’re just lying?

Or perhaps it doesn’t mean that, and it only means that they once traveled through this star system and found Earth and Mars, both with life, and left the message for the sapient life that would emerge in the future.

The Primordial Cradle is where the life too… Based on those words, they sound like kind people. I guess these aliens must want something out of us.

But seeing how they left this message so vaguely hidden inside of the moon from Earth, I don’t know if they really cared that much, or if perhaps they left it all to fate.

“Karel… Do you know who these Astral Guardians are? And I thought you were only from Mars, but this language isn’t Martian, right?”

“I have traveled the universe… Or, well, my own universe. This language is indeed not Martian, but Astral Language, it is a “common tongue” spoken in most planetary alliances.”

“Oh… So you’ve traveled through your universe; how far?”

“Not too far; never got out of the Galaxy. But there are indeed those that come from other galaxies too. Galaxy Man has traveled throughout the entire Galaxy and has traveled to a couple of others, or so he has told me. I don’t remember him back then.”

“Okay, I get it… And the Astral Guardians?”

“Hmm, it’s hard to say… I’ve heard about a title like that before, but most people treat them as gods. I’ve never met one, though, and no people I’ve talked with have known one either. But I believe they have left similar messages across the universe.”

“So this Astral Cradle… Has someone reached it before?”

“There are coordinates, actually.”

“In the tablet?!”

“Yes.”

“Then they have reached it, right?”

“No.”

“…Why?”

“…”

He fell silent for a moment.

“The coordinates lead to the Astral Horizon, or the point of no return. It is an area in the universe that stretches infinitely and is an endless void… To go there would be suicide.”

“Oh…”

“That’s why most of those that have tried to get there never returned… It is unknown what lies there. And too scary for someone to try exploring it. I imagine that in the Astral Horizon is where the many parallel universes interconnect, an endless void that leads to a mirrored universe, all of it interconnected by an endlessly expanding and branching void, creating an interconnected whole reality.”

“…”

As I heard this, I remained in silence for a good while. All of this was incredible knowledge, and I couldn’t be happier if I saved this man’s life; he’s a living library of knowledge about the universe and beyond.

“Bing Xue, is that all you needed me to do for you?”

“A-Ah! Yeah, thank you, Karel.”

“It’s nothing. I died, and you brought me back to life… I repay my debts, and the debt of having my life brought back is immense. I’ll help you as much as I can, so do not hesitate to ask for my assistance. As long as it is something I can do, I’ll help.”

“Thank you, take it easy for now. But I might ask you more later… See ya.”

“Hm, see you later, as you humans say.”

I quickly cut off my connection to my Doppelganger, who probably moved elsewhere, as I glanced at Mars.

I could have told him I was coming here, but he’s still mentally unstable; talking to him about his planet might only make him break down.

He’s still recovering and everything, so it’s better not to disturb him.

But from the context I’ve learned and from what his friends have told me, Mars once was thriving with life in the past, but some sort of cataclysm dried the entire planet and slowly destroyed its atmosphere.

Martians were the sapient life that lived on Mars, green-skinned people that lived long lives and had evolved to become inborn Espers, possessing powerful Psychic Abilities.

Their most notorious is Telepathy, they could communicate through their minds. Another ability was Telekinesis, Karel mostly uses it to fly, and another was something about Emotional Connection and Sharing, and Memories.

Karel isn’t just a Martian, he apparently carries with him the Legacy of all Martians as the last survivor, he carries within his mind the Memories of his people, that’s why he’s such a big, living encyclopedia too.

I don’t know much more about him aside from that, but I believe he has shapeshifting abilities, super strength and durability, and his eyes can fire lasers made of concentrated solar radiation.

Similar to Solarnites, the race that Galaxy Man belongs to, he needs Sunlight for his abilities to be fully active, but unlike Solarnites, he can also produce photosynthesis, so he doesn’t need to eat.

…I think that’s why they have green skin.

Wait, does that mean that Martians are technically some sort of plant?

…

I think that would be kind of racist to say to them, though, so I better just not mention it.

There are a few things here that I want to check, namely the Saurians, if there are any surviving ones, and the technology they used to get here.

“Alright, we’re here, everyone! Welcome to Mars… It’s a beautiful… desert, I suppose.”

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