The little Rustling's bristles suddenly rippled like waves, making the little coal-ball creature look even softer than before.

Xi Yujin couldn't resist giving it a gentle shake. Sure enough, it wobbled like jelly. Then, with a soft plop, the little Rustling flattened itself against Xi Yujin's hand, its bristles soaked with tears.

It had learned many things since then. It knew that its homeland had suffered a terrible disaster, that it and its people had been treated as cargo aboard a smuggling ship, and that Blue Planet had rescued them after discovering their plight.

In the spaceship's library, it had learned that they were traveling beyond the sky itself, into a world infinitely larger than they had ever imagined. Every day had been full of wonder, and it had even helped Blue Planet repel the mechanical invaders.

But not every story could have a perfect ending. Its people had awakened and gained a new homeland, yet the Blue Planet people who had saved them had departed and could no longer be contacted.

For the first time, the little Rustling understood what parting meant.

It grew up quickly, recording the story of their journey in a work that was part history and part imagination. The long narrative poem Fire, the Black Box, and the White Ship became the Rustlings' first fully documented myth.

It became the second administrator of the Blue Planet forums, pinning excellent long-form reviews of Blue Planet's works while maintaining order in the discussions.

One alien, knowing that the administrator was still underage, even donated a piece of green filter* code that automatically censored mature content behind black boxes. As a result, the Blue Planet forums became widely known as an exceptionally family-friendly community.

Although it was still only a juvenile Rustling, its status among its people was already extremely high. Even its parents sighed that perhaps one day, it would represent the Rustlings and fly into the heavens once again.

The little Rustling could feel the weight of responsibility resting upon its stiff little bristles. Thus, no matter how much it missed the Blue Planet authors, it could only hide in lonely corners and quietly shed tears where no other coal-balls could see.

And now... Blue Planet Yujin had returned! He was even holding it! It was the familiar texture of stone and ore!

Its bristles were soaked with tears, but it was a little coal spirit, so what was wrong with crying? The little Rustling melted into a pancake-shaped blob, wanting nothing more than to cling to Xi Yujin forever.

Then it caught sight of another familiar figure nearby. Turning around for a better look, it stared at Gano for several seconds in disbelief before all its bristles stood on end again.

The cool big brother who wore handsome armor is back!

Sob... this one deserves cuddles too!

Gano gently rubbed the little coal-ball, and an unfamiliar sense of peace and happiness welled up inside him.

He and Yujinno had left their homes separately and crossed paths by chance. Now, they are traveling together.

Not only had they found love in each other, but they had also gained many friends. While they had risked their lives on breathtaking adventures, countless beings across the universe had anxiously prayed for their safe return. Perhaps that was the true meaning of parting.

Gano looked at the little Rustling and said seriously, "I'm back."

The little Rustling froze. Then it rubbed frantically against Gano's palm at such incredible speed that the tiny black fuzzball left afterimages. Gano's eyes widened in surprise.

Xi Yujin poked the little creature from the side. He hadn't forgotten how, back aboard the Tidal Peace, this little Rustling had spent every lesson either sleeping or slacking off while all the other Rustlings studied diligently. It had danced around the living room instead, claiming that the ship's shaking had made it do so.

Xi Yujin teased, "So we caught you skipping class again?"

The little Rustling: Please stop bringing up skipping class!

Xi Yujin placed the little Rustling on his shoulder and listened as it recounted everything that had happened during their absence.

According to Starship Belt time, they had been gone for three cosmic months. In reality, they hadn't spent nearly that long in the Zerg territory.

Time simply flowed more slowly while traveling at extreme speed through the wormhole.

During those three months, the SYE-1832 system had undergone enormous changes.

The first planet remained tidally locked. The botanical garden on the second planet had withered across vast areas when the wormhole opened, but it had miraculously revived afterward.

The radiation even caused strange mutations, and the green vegetation now covered several impact craters. Viewed from space, it looked as if someone had dotted the little planet with patches of emerald green.

Gano suddenly remarked, "My database contains knowledge related to agriculture."

The first thing the Zerg did after a brutal invasion was plant forests and greenery everywhere. Many years later, that knowledge had unexpectedly become Xi Yujin's advantage instead.

On the third planet, the Rustlings had dug shallow nests along the beaches.

Drawing upon the knowledge stored in the Black Box, they had also learned to build city-states and, without anyone teaching them, invented rusty little boats capable of sailing across the water. Some Rustlings had already begun raising offspring in the shallow bays, and Xi Yujin could already imagine the prosperous civilization they would create someday.

The Rustlings' original civilization level was simply too low to leap forward overnight. Any race capable of spaceflight was generally assumed to have overcome the three great challenges: reproduction, aerospace technology, and the psychology required for surviving in space.

The Rustlings still had a long road ahead. They needed more years developing on the surface before they could truly become an interstellar civilization.

The little Rustling jumped down from Xi Yujin's shoulder.

A large Rustling cried, "Ee!" Then bumped gently against it.

The little Rustling answered, "Ee..."

Xi Yujin crouched down and patted its head. "But you still want to travel with us?"

Both the large and small Rustlings nodded together. Although Rustling civilization needed to take root on its own planet... for a little Rustling that had already seen the universe, remaining on the surface forever would simply be too cruel.

At that moment, four more little Rustlings bounced over. These five little coal-balls were all among the first group to awaken aboard the Tidal Peace and had even visited the Deep Space Prison.

They wanted to sail into the stars as well, and their parents had already agreed.

"It'll make the ship livelier anyway," Xi Yujin said as he patted each of them in turn. "Besides, the Tidal Peace is huge. There are plenty of empty rooms."

"The next thing you'll need to learn is how to operate a spacesuit."

The little Rustlings bounced happily in excitement. After translation, their Rustling names became Qing, Hai, Li, Pi, and Peng. Then, Xi Yujin added Blue Planet verification badges to all of their StarNet accounts.

"Speaking of traveling..." Xi Yujin turned to Gano. "I think Tidal Peace needs repairs."

Queen Ubit certainly wasn't gentle with it. After being casually wrapped up and carried around, parts of the hull had become visibly warped.

"We also need to make another Black Box..."

One for the Blue Planet base, and another for the Tidal Peace.

"And we still need to organize the plants on the second planet. And hold a ceremony..."

The more Xi Yujin listed everything they needed to do, the more he realized the central problem.

He had no money!

He and Gano hurried off to the other planets to see whether any of his later works earned income.

Unfortunately, they didn't.

The Starship Belt's artistic derivatives were distributed freely and weren't connected to the Black Box Network's transaction system.

Meanwhile, Primordial Myth on the fourth planet and Revival on the fifth planet had both remained unfinished, and their endings were never filmed. Naturally, they generated no revenue.

But fortunately, the infrastructure on the fifth planet was nearly completed. When Xi Yujin landed there, he saw a full-scale replica of an Earth city rising from the desert. The brilliant neon lights reflecting in his eyes made his heart tremble.

Walking down the broad avenue, the streetlights stretched their shadows across the pavement. In the distance stood famous landmarks from countries all over Earth, arranged side by side in a strangely harmonious blend.

The city was completely silent, and it seemed like only they existed there.

At the center of the city stood the Blue Planet Library. It consisted of both underground and aerial sections that formed the shape of an hourglass, which was a reminder for visitors to cherish time.

When Xi Yujin entered the first floor, countless neatly arranged statues of Intelligent Machines lined the outer hall, each decorated with flowers. The sight was spectacular.

Xi Yujin turned to Gano. "Good thing Ubit didn't see this."

Gano nodded in wholehearted agreement.

"My goodness... my goodness!! You're back!!"

A shocked voice suddenly rang out from outside the library. Xi Yujin stuck his head out. It was Soma, Sulfurstone, and several other alien friends they had met in the Starship Belt.

Soma let out an excited shriek. "Yujin! It's really you! I knew you were an all-powerful diplomat! You actually came back from the wormhole! You're a legend among interstellar diplomats!"

Seeing his friends again, Xi Yujin relaxed. "So... did you finish your internship report?"

Soma replied, "I've already become a full-fledged diplomat now, although I still don't have any assignments."

"My poor little crystal!" Sulfurstone had finally received news from the Radiant Empire and sighed emotionally. "You've suffered far too much! You're still just a child!"

Xi Yujin could only reply helplessly, "We really aren't the same species..."

"But there actually is something I'd like your help with..." Then he began asking for advice about diamond cutting techniques.

Standing nearby, Gano listened in confusion, unable to understand why Yujin had suddenly brought up such a topic.

Then Soma suddenly said, "Do you know the biggest news in the Starship Belt recently? I just got back from the starships."

"Of course I don't," Xi Yujin answered.

"The Starship Belt is shutting down..." Soma said quietly. "The Starship Belt possesses incredibly powerful self-production capabilities, but just recently, many of its facilities shut down. It's no longer considered a habitable zone."

"Even though the Starship people could survive for a long time on stored supplies, they still voted to relocate onto planets."

"I heard it's because the Starship Belt suddenly received some ancient signals, possibly transmitted by its original owners."

Xi Yujin immediately thought of Ubit. Of course, the Queen would never allow her starships to remain forever entangled with steel and machinery. Other than Xi Yujin and Gano, no one knew the true history of the Starship Belt.

The Starship people decided to relocate to one of the six million planets and begin cultivating their civilization from the beginning, starting with farming, while also searching for ways to improve their genetics.

At the very least, thanks to their abundant artistic creations and derivatives, they could still secure a place in the universe's literary world.

As for the title Free Capital of Art, it remained as the name of the region itself, becoming a landmark on the edge of the ancient battlefield ruins. In the future, countless visitors would come to tour the Free Capital of Art, and the Blue Planet Base on SYE-1832 would become its most famous attraction.

"So many things have happened during this time..." Xi Yujin sighed. Every race truly had its own unique destiny.

"What else haven't I done yet... Ah, right, my alternate identities!"

Gano was busy contacting various botanical suppliers on behalf of Xi Yujin, planning improvements for the second planet. Xi Yujin's earlier works had accumulated a modest income, which was just enough to buy seeds. Thus, Yujin entrusted Gano with supervising the project while he himself attended to other matters.

After their journey to the Zerg's territory, Gano's state of mind had changed. He already realized that he was truly unique, and that he possessed a complete soul of his own.

As a result, his manner of speaking became calm yet slightly arrogant, and arrogant yet tinged with wild confidence.

He could dismantle others' arguments using their own logic, delivering devastating rebuttals with remarkable precision. And he also possessed the confidence to fight ten opponents at once.

Occasionally, he was also worried that his and Yujinno's little savings account wasn't large enough. Floating through space, Gano scribbled calculations onto paper, attempting to find ways to increase income and decrease expenses.

The single thing that hadn't changed was that whenever he thought of Yujinno, his heart softened.

"Sigh... I really ran into a seasoned negotiator." One merchant sighed after finishing a transaction with him.

"Are you from Blue Planet? I wanted to ask you something. I heard Blue Planet Yujin traveled through a wormhole searching for his lover. Is that true?"

"They came back." Under the merchant's astonished gaze, Gano repeated, "Both of them came back."

"Y-you mean... they... returned... from Zerg territory?" The merchant had to pause for breath after every word.

Gano could only nod.

"I have to tell my friends immediately!" The alien merchant let out an excited cry and hurriedly activated its communicator.

"Oh, by the way, how do you know this?" the merchant asked, wanting to verify the source.

"Because I'm him," Gano replied.

"Y-you... are... him..." The merchant froze completely, as if it just heard a ghost story.

Only after Gano left did the merchant finally recover enough to complain online: "I've got another genuine scoop. That translator Gano, you know how nobody really knows much about him? He almost scared me to tears just now. His presence is terrifying!"

Looking at Gano's carefree figure drifting through space, the merchant added: "The combination of him and Blue Planet Yujin has to be the most untouchable duo in the entire universe."

Netizens quickly replied: "I'm still curious. Did Yujin really come back? How did he do it?"

"Let me summarize everything. Blue Planet Yujin traveled to the Starship Belt under the pen name Wenhuo. An accident happened there, and Blue Planet translator Gano was swallowed by a wormhole. Then Blue Planet Yujin entered the wormhole alone and came back together with the translator!"

"After reading it again, it still sounds impossible."

"Some creatures have already seen Blue Planet Yujin in person. It's real!"

"Let me add something else. They said that the Starship Belt wormhole connected to the Zerg. Maybe Blue Planet Yujin just took a stroll through Zerg territory before coming back."

"Don't spread nonsense. None of us even know where the Zerg live. That's Zerg territory, not some neighborhood for cats and dogs."

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but Yujin finding Gano again is so touching. Love really can transcend time and space. Count me in for the wedding gift!"

"I'm so happy! Blue Planet Yujin is back! What about the other Blue Planet authors? Did they finish their wormhole jump?"

"Double happiness! The authors I follow all posted messages!"

"They're all saying... congratulations on the vacation?"

The readers across the universe added yet another legendary chapter to Yujin's story, but they were puzzled by the reactions of the Blue Planet authors.

The boss/editor-in-chief had reunited with his lover... So why was everyone congratulating them on getting a vacation? That didn't feel like a good sign.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, all the Blue Planet authors posted nearly identical messages:

"To celebrate Yujin entering a new stage of life, all Blue Planet authors will be taking a one-month vacation!"

One month? Vacation? What about the updates?

The readers' smiles froze. The truth was simply that Xi Yujin had run out of manuscript stockpiles. He also had plenty of other things to deal with, so the writing had to wait.

Readers immediately began lamenting: "I know Yujin is happy, and I know everyone respects Blue Planet Yujin... but these authors have a kind of happiness that completely disregards whether their readers live or die."

Then, all across StarNet, announcements began appearing one after another. And every single one had something to do with Blue Planet.

"The underground theme park in the Pangshi Galaxy will be free for one month! Visitors will receive physical Blue Planet books and can attend live readings! I've always wanted to go, so I'm definitely going this time!"

"Ctulrt's modules have been updated with seven new releases! There's even an immersive experience recreating the descent of the Ancient Gods!"

"Huh? So many races have publicly released their diplomatic novels about Blue Planet as part of the celebration... There are even races I've never heard of writing Blue Planet-related stories."

"The number of novels imitating Blue Planet literature has exploded!"

"Huge news!! The AI Forum launched a romance novel writing contest to celebrate!"

Creatures throughout the universe were overwhelmed by the flood of announcements as races from every corner of the cosmos organized colorful celebrations. The reason was the same everywhere: to celebrate the marriage of Blue Planet Yujin and Blue Planet Gano.

In reality, no one actually received any confirmation. Xi Yujin was still carefully hiding his plans, but rumors always traveled faster than reality. By the time the news reached distant civilizations, the story had already become:

Yujin and Gano are getting married!

Everyone hurried to send congratulations and gifts, and the happiest beneficiaries were naturally the readers.

They left messages saying: "I hope Yujin stays happy every single day. Don't worry about us!"

"At this point there's only one thing left to say..."

"Take our blessings with you!"

Faced with such jubilant enthusiasm, Xi Yujin couldn't explain anything. He hadn't even proposed yet, so how did the aliens already advance the story all the way to celebrating their golden wedding anniversary?

Fortunately... Gano didn't notice.

In Gano's view, he and Xi Yujin were already bound for the rest of their lives together.

No ceremony was necessary. As long as they understood each other's hearts, that was enough. So whenever others called them a couple, he simply accepted it with wholehearted happiness.

On an auspicious day, Xi Yujin took Gano by the hand. "I want to complete my stellar transformation."

The place he chose was the red dwarf star neighboring SYE-1832. Carrying the coffin that contained his physical body, he waved goodbye to Gano and flew toward the blazing red dwarf.

Within the unbearable heat, he gradually released his true form. His spiritual power poured outward, allowing light and heat to reshape his soul.

Normally, a red dwarf was only a dim point in the universe that was barely visible. But at this moment, it shone with impossible brilliance.

Its mass rapidly increased, tearing apart the surrounding planets. Fragments scattered in every direction before being captured by SYE-1832's gravity, forming a new asteroid belt. Beyond that, two tiny new planets also came into existence.

The resulting chain reactions altered the first planet's orbit into an ellipse, while half of its crust was blasted away. Fortunately, it didn't collide with anything.

If someone from Earth looked upon this star system, they would think that it resembled a faded Solar System. Yet on closer inspection, countless differences would become apparent.

No matter how similar another stellar system became, the Sun that illuminated Earth would never exist in this universe. And yet, new civilizations would forever be born beneath the light of new stars.

After a long while, the chain reaction finally subsided, and a solitary figure appeared outside the newborn star. His body looked delicate, yet he somehow could walk through the harsh vacuum of space. His black hair flowed softly, and his features were refined and gentle.

Another figure, clad in armor, flew over and embraced him tightly. Against the backdrop of the star, their tiny bodies floated quietly in the space.

They were almost too insignificant to notice. Yet in that moment, they only saw each other.

Xi Yujin opened his hand. Resting on his palm was a diamond ring, sparkling brilliantly even beneath the star's blazing light. It had been carved from a fragment of his own star.

Without a single word, Gano understood the meaning of the ceremony, and heat rushed straight to his head. He hurriedly retrieved the carefully polished fragment of the King-class armor core that he had prepared long ago, which was now dazzling in its brilliance.

When they released their hands, the two shining objects slowly drifted together. The two circled each other like tiny satellites, tracing an elliptical orbit around the other like a miniature ring of stars.

Amid the boundless universe, their fingers intertwined. Bathed in the fierce light of the newborn sun, they exchanged a silent vow:

"Let us travel together, for eternity."