"They actually managed to restore it?" Xi Yujin exclaimed in surprise. "I've been pretty tired anyway, maybe we should go take a look and relax..."

After publishing The Nursery Rhyme Murder Case, a massive surge of mental power flowed back to him. Xi Yujin's head felt warm, as if a seed was breaking through its shell and coming to life.

When he opened his cabin door, he found Gano standing outside, holding Xi Yujin's favorite mineral cup.

Gano was very interested in Blue Planet culture.

He had recently learned from Chaos Gale that Blue Planet custom involved having multiple close friends, where one person could have many best friends. He had also learned from Xi Yujin's recently updated Blue Planet official website that every Blue Planet person had their own destined asteroid.

The moment he spotted the armor core floating beside Xi Yujin, his mind went blank.

In that instant, his brain experienced total collapse: heaven and earth shattered, sun and moon went dark, and everything was reduced to ash. Yet Gano's expression remained completely neutral as he said: "I've observed that you haven't rested in a long time."

He stiffly handed over the enormous mineral cup. He wanted to comfort Yujinno but didn't know where to start, so food seemed like the safest option.

He should be... at least a little more competent than Yujinno's other close friends, right?

Gano couldn't quite explain why he'd developed this urge to compare himself to those friends. He just wanted to do better, probably because those friends had areas where they fell short. He was simply making comparisons subconsciously.

Xi Yujin took the enormous mineral cup and looked up. The cup's pointed tip was half a meter taller than he was. Meanwhile, Gano wore a deadly serious expression, as if he were handing over a bomb.

Xi Yujin stared at him for a moment. "I'll eat this later... Thank you, Gano." He stored the mineral cup away and asked, "Where are we now?"

"We've arrived at a new port star. We're at the first planet."

Xi Yujin noticed the shadow outside the window and exclaimed in surprise: "What's that?"

Outside, an enormous celestial body was slowly rotating. On closer inspection, only half of it was soil, and the other half was entirely made up of steel and machinery.

"That's a Navigator Colossus, used for long-distance tourism," Gano explained.

Xi Yujin was curious, so he went outside to observe, and the two sat together on top of Tidal Peace. Gano had equipped his full armor, saying he needed to protect Xi Yujin's safety.

The Navigator Colossus was orbiting at a speed that was quite fast relative to the planet. Xi Yujin gazed at the ochre-colored giant ship that resembled Jupiter, with the small spacecraft around it forming its rings. He was deeply awed by this universe's unique technology.

Behind the Navigator Giant Vessel was a football-sized pink star. It gradually emerged from behind the vessel's edge, like a red sun rising over a desert.

"Sunrise..."

Xi Yujin murmured in Earth's language. His head began to nod, and eventually, he couldn't resist the drowsiness and fell asleep.

Gano raised his alert level to ten, powered his armor to full capacity, and spread the dazzlingly bright light-wings on his back as a warning to all potential enemies. Some creatures who noticed immediately flew away in their ships.

He couldn't help glancing at Xi Yujin beside him. Just as he was about to sort through his recent thoughts, he was stunned to discover...

Xi Yujin was slowly floating upward!

Xi Yujin had no idea he did this, and Gano, seeing it for the first time, was somewhat alarmed. Xi Yujin was tethered by a safety rope, but at this rate, he would float above the Tidal Peace like a balloon.

Was this some kind of magical constitution of Blue Planet people?

Gano calmly pressed Xi Yujin back down beside him, then continued watching the scenery. He didn't understand what was so fascinating about this pink star, but Yujin Nuo had watched it for a long time. He tried staring at this port star to understand its mystery, but remained completely puzzled.

Blue Planet people are really hard to understand.

But he wanted to understand more...

"Sunrise."

His armor's signal detection function was extremely sensitive. From the vibrations transmitted through various materials, he detected that Xi Yujin had just said these words.

Sunrise.

He looked at the star before him, guessing that Yujinno was talking about this thing.

—

The Flash Empire.

On a barren planet, the Flash Clan was engaged in massive construction. Big Purple was supervising after declaring that they would either compensate it with a bunch of new underground palaces or work here instead. The other Flash Clan members knew they were in the wrong, so they kept their heads down while digging. After all, building underground palaces required digging all the way to the planet's core, while building this theme park only required working in the shallow layers.

With the final shovel of dirt, the entire Writing Contest Inspired theme park was finally complete.

Big Purple surveyed the park from above as it recalled the day it learned about Ancient Tomb Code's dismal sales.

That day, it had thought long and hard.

The Ginseng Spirit's Original Pentagram promotional campaign was coming on strong, while the Flash Clan had been disconnected from surface-dwelling creatures for too long. Moreover, the bad deeds of previous generations were being widely publicized, so the Flash Empire's reputation was declining day by day.

In this idealistic universe, if other creatures believed that the Flash Empire didn't exist, then the Flash Empire would truly vanish. Once books published by the Flash Empire lost all influence, when creatures mentioned the Flash Clan, they would only think:

"Oh, they're the species that trades land with the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce, right? Or are they the bodyguards that the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce hired?"

The glory of the Flash Empire would be forever dimmed.

And Canghai's Ancient Tomb Code provided a good opportunity to rebuild their reputation, so why shouldn't they seize it?

While Big Purple was reading through Ancient Tomb Code and pondering this question, it suddenly had a flash of inspiration. It could recreate the fantasies of the multiple contest submissions and attract tourists to come see them! They had many barren planets, and increasing interaction with surface creatures might help maintain the empire’s dignity.

It immediately convened a meeting, and most members of the Flash Clan agreed. But there was one condition: they wanted to recreate Ancient Tomb Code first!

And they wanted to compete! To see who could recreate it in the most interesting way!

At that moment, news arrived about the infighting in the Blue Planet literary scene. Hearing that Canghai wasn't very famous, Big Purple—out of personal motives—agreed to this decision.

Now, the construction was finally complete.

The only regret was that Canghai couldn't come in person, citing that he still owed many manuscripts. Big Purple understood that novelists often had a habit of delaying their work. Canghai then recommended their Blue Planet representative, Yujin; thus, Big Purple came to wait out of courtesy.

After the Tidal Peace landed, Xi Yujin and Gano came out in disguise. Xi Yujin wore an oversized hat that blocked all light, so he no longer looked like he was glowing.

"Welcome, friend from Blue Planet." Big Purple tried its best to be friendly. "Allow me to introduce you to our surface-level theme park. It hasn’t been fully decorated yet—"

Xi Yujin's eyes gradually widened.

Before him lay a stretch of land with its surface layer removed. Faintly glowing fluorite stones were placed throughout to serve as streetlights, and their soft glow extended into the distance like a gathering of fireflies. From above, the maze-like ancient tombs were fully visible.

The theme park had three types of entrances for different body sizes: giant-sized for creatures like the Flash Tribe, normal-sized for those between one and ten meters tall, and micro-sized for those under one meter. The entrances were also divided into two categories: tourist-type, which allowed safe viewing of the entire theme park; and experience-type, where each visitor received a shovel and could play as a tomb raider, digging wherever they pleased.

"We didn't quite understand the shovels in Canghai's book. Can you really accomplish that much with just scrap iron?" Big Purple handed over a visitor's entrenching tool. "So we modified them with our technology."

Digging through passages? Easy! Breaking through walls? Even easier! There was also free photo-taking and screenshots, real-time chat coordination, and other convenient group completion features!

Moreover, the theme park offered extreme freedom. Visitors started in a small room and could choose any direction to proceed. Of course, hints in the room indicated what lay in each direction, which is easy to understand if you'd read Ancient Tomb Code. If you hadn't, you'd just have to stumble around blindly.

As for what happened to the passages that the visitors dug? That was no problem in the interstellar age. The theme park could automatically refill and repair itself. Some excellent visitors' tomb-raiding paths could even be preserved as shortcuts for future guests.

Every time a visitor opened up a new area, they could view the mechanisms and murals inside.

 

[

Dragonflies guide the way, the River God appears;

White-haired female corpse, ox cries its grievance;

Ownerless treasure gifted to the Carp Immortal;

Three parts guidance, seven parts deception.

]

 

The wondrous ancient tomb had leaped right off the page!

"We put the more dangerous mechanisms in our giant-sized passages." Big Purple was about to boast about the Flash Empire's bravery when it turned around and saw that its fellow clan members were already playing. It said without changing expression: "My people... are all having a wonderful time. Thank you very much."

This was basically an interstellar-age, ancient-tomb-themed escape room!

Xi Yujin dragged Gano around to explore everywhere.

All the exhaustion from grinding out novels was swept away!

Because the Flash Clan paid great attention to detail, he could tell from the hints in each room what lay behind it and how to get past the mechanisms. This feeling of already knowing the answers was absolutely delightful!

As he wandered through the theme park, he spotted a plaque with "Wealth and Honor are Decreed by Heaven" written incorrectly, so he quickly went over to fix it.

After finishing, he looked at the familiar characters—at the ancient tomb that had transformed from imagination into reality—and felt somewhat complicated. Gano noticed, but before he could say anything, Xi Yujin adjusted his mood and continued exploring.

"I think this is really fun!"

Xi Yujin happily played through the park, offering suggestions and correcting some murals. He spoke very earnestly, and these giants listened just as earnestly, immediately raising their shovels and saying they'd make more modifications.

"This is amazing..." Xi Yujin watched the Flash Clan reshape the terrain and said, "It’s like recreating Earth’s history here."

Mixed emotions swirled in his heart, and he even entertained the thought of settling here.

"History..." Big Purple saw that Xi Yujin was quite easy to get along with and shared a bit more.

"Our Flash Clan's history is inscribed on our bodies. Just by looking at the cracks on our bodies and the growth patterns of our minerals, we can roughly recall when earthquakes occurred, when volcanoes erupted, when tsunamis hit, and when we first went to space... And by looking at the patterns in our elders, we can learn about history. So we don't have history as a subject."

The Flash Clan had three growth stages. The first was the Core Period. During this time, they were most vulnerable and needed protection from their elders.

The second was the Surface Period. Their body size stabilized, and they possessed long lifespans.

The third was the Voyage Period. Flash Clan members also traveled, but unlike other creatures, they chose to voyage at the end of their lives. It was said that Flash Clan members could sense when their souls were about to extinguish. They would no longer build underground palaces. Instead, they would use all the skills they'd developed for palace-building to build a great ship. Then they would use all their remaining strength to explore the endless void of space.

This journey would never return. They would travel until their souls faded and their entire bodies turned into lifeless minerals, drifting through infinite space.

"For us, history means thickening the rock layers on our bodies, reaching toward the sky, and then departing." Big Purple's voice echoed through the valley. "Every time a tribe member leaves, our history grows a little shorter."

"Sometimes I wonder. Besides making ourselves happy, what meaning does building underground palaces have? Please thank Mr. Canghai for me. He helped us understand that underground palaces built of stone can also preserve history."

Xi Yujin felt somewhat melancholic listening to this. He felt that the meaning of writing novels wasn't just earning money and mental power. It was also to prove that a brilliant civilization once existed...

After Big Purple left, Xi Yujin and Gano chatted casually.

"I kind of want to write a diary. Writing a diary would let some creature in the future know that I, as a person, existed."

Not Blue Planet, not his other pen names, but Xi Yujin as an individual.

Xi Yujin said 'kind of' because he knew he didn't have enough energy and would probably write sporadically. But talking with Gano always relaxed him, and imagining himself as an octopus spirit wasn’t a crime anyway.

To his surprise, Gano lowered his eyes and said: "A diary... Could you teach me how to do that?"

"What?" Xi Yujin asked.

Gano spoke honestly: "I want to write in Earth's script. I want to remember that we met."

Xi Yujin was deeply moved. He reached out and tapped Gano's armor with his finger, producing a sound like spring water. He'd wanted to do that for a while. After a long moment, he finally said, "Of course."

Just then, Big Purple suddenly came over again and handed Xi Yujin a flyer.

Xi Yujin recognized the familiar figure on the flyer. It was him before he had put on his disguise.

His heart skipped a beat. "Excuse me, is this some wanted criminal I should be aware of?"

"Of course not." Big Purple said somewhat happily. "This is a newborn hatchling of our Flash Clan!"

"Uh... I think there might be some misunderstanding."

"How could there be a misunderstanding? Look at his glittering, glowing body! He looks so much like us! I'd guess he's a meteorite-type. This kind of mineral usually appears on planets with frequent meteorite impacts."

Xi Yujin broke into a cold sweat. "So what does this flyer mean?"

"Unfortunately, our surveillance has blind spots, so we couldn't see where this hatchling went. We're distributing flyers to find him. Our hatchlings are very fragile, you know. Look at him, he only has two legs! Oh my! How weak is that!"

Xi Yujin nodded randomly and asked, "So what are you going to do after you find him?"

"Naturally, we'll put him into the planet's core to nurture him for ten thousand years. At a minimum, we need to fix his lower half by shaping it into a twelve-faced prism. That would look so nice." At this moment, Big Purple looked like a demon in Xi Yujin's eyes. Thinking about the Flash Clan gaining a new hatchling, Big Purple waved its hands excitedly. On the other hand, Xi Yujin remembered the scene of it crushing a spaceship with its bare hands.

"Have you ever considered that you might not be the same species...?" Xi Yujin tried to hint.

Big Purple: "What?"

Xi Yujin: "Hahaha, nothing."

Then he tilted his head toward Gano and whispered, "The situation changed. Let's run."

The Flash Empire's promotional strategy was remarkably effective. Some novelists even applied to submit their work again. Who wouldn't want their words to become reality?

But the hottest attraction was still Canghai's Ancient Tomb Code.

The theme park's appearance made it easier for readers to understand the mechanisms in the book, and they could even experience the dangers firsthand. The barrier to entry was lowered, the reading experience enriched, and even the Flash Empire was being friendly. So why not check out this legendary Ancient Tomb Code?

Since Xun Ming and Yongye were both from Blue Planet, everyone was curious about it. But the Blue Planet official website had little detailed information, so they could only find answers in Ancient Tomb Code.

The more they read, the more they discovered things they didn't know, and the more they appreciated the depth of Blue Planet civilization.

"Canghai writes so brilliantly. It's the first time I've seen the underground world written like this! It's actually ancient creatures' tombs!"

"Blue Planet people really love their best friends. Though the close friend in this book is a bit special: an adopted brother. Kind of taboo."

"See, I told you there's a misunderstanding. Best friend really does just mean friends... But Ancient Tomb Code is truly excellent. It approaches the underground from an unimaginable perspective, fitting the theme while being innovative."

Ancient Tomb Code's sales climbed steadily, soon surpassing I Never Lose After Landing in a New Galaxy.

The Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce headquarters was shrouded in gloom, the atmosphere oppressive. Some duck editors even wanted to personally seek out Xun Ming. He was now their only hope for a comeback!

In a certain physical bookstore, the lanky merchant welcomed an endless stream of customers.

Everyone specifically asked for Ancient Tomb Code, and in the entire Pangshi galaxy, only this merchant had the largest inventory. When other merchants tried to order from the Flash Empire, the Empire terminated their contracts. Watching the lanky merchant rake in money daily, its competitors' eyes turned red with jealousy.

Ancient Tomb Code seized the momentum to release its second volume, and readers went crazy buying it!

The tall, thin merchant happily placed Ancient Tomb Code II in the recent bestsellers section while also recommending the Flash Clan's theme park to purchasing customers. After an exhausting day, it finally opened the second volume to read.

The first volume's subtitle was River and Sea, which described numerous bizarre and perilous water-related mechanisms, plus some small creatures. There was the alligator guarding the Yangtze River, an old cat suppressed beneath a pagoda, and packs of man-eating dogs in the wilderness. The stories were strange but could all be explained scientifically, and readers mostly felt the joy of exploring the unknown.

The second volume's subtitle was Corpse and Lamp.

The lanky merchant couldn't quite understand it. Slowly, it opened to the first page. Yes, it was the anticipated adventure story. While the two protagonists continued searching for secrets in the tomb murals, a group of people, having learned they possessed two mural fragments, threatened them into exploring a haunted house.

The second chapter's subtitle was The Water-Soaked Ghost.

On the way to finding the haunted house, the protagonists heard a story.

In this river, those who drowned would always bloat and float to shore. So corpses weren't called corpses; rather, they were called river floaters. But some river floaters were strange. They were clearly wearing clothes, meaning they weren't people who'd gone swimming for fun. They normally had good swimming skills and wouldn't easily drown. There were also strange bruise marks on their bodies that didn't look like they'd hit rocks. The old-timers who lived by the river all said these river floaters had encountered the water-soaked ghosts and been dragged down to die in their place!

The lanky merchant shuddered.

Following the usual pattern, the author should come out and explain this, right? Canghai had previously used the protagonists' dialogue to mock how most supernatural phenomena were essentially just Approaching Science, and people scaring themselves.

But the protagonist only felt suspicious and didn't explain. This made the lanky merchant somewhat nervous.

The next chapter told another short story, called the Drought Demon.

According to legend, there was a folk custom of "beating the drought demon." The drought demon was a monster from ancient legends, and wherever it went, there was severe drought, so it had to be driven away. The drought demon was transformed from a corpse. If a person in the village was buried and their body remained uncorrupted for a long time, with water seeping from the grave mound, it meant the corpse inside had transformed into a demon. It had to be dug up and beaten to end the drought. If this drought demon had been cultivating for a long time, it had to be suppressed under a pagoda.

The protagonists still hadn't found the haunted house and slept in an abandoned village along the way. But when they woke up at midnight, two fingers covered in dense black hair were reaching out from a lonely grave mound! From underground came the piercing sound of scratching fingernails. The full moon turned red, and everything pointed to great disaster!

The two protagonists used every item they had hidden on them to escape. At dawn, beside the coffin was a pool of black water and traces of burning.

Perhaps... there really were things in this world that science couldn't explain.

The records of the ancients weren't exaggerated rumors, but factual accounts.

The path to the haunted house was incredibly dangerous, but they still had to continue.

"Does Earth... really have this many creatures?"

The lanky merchant wanted to close the book but didn't dare, afraid that if it looked back, two fingers covered in dense black hair would appear at the window. It even thought it was seeing illusions... That thing moving at the window isn't actually a reanimated Earth creature, is it? Did they travel here, too?

Earth's underground was too terrifying!

Within the Flash Empire, the Flash Clan was also reading the second volume.

Some Flash Clan members trembled with fear, causing the surrounding rocks to shift and triggering frequent earthquakes.

Others grew more excited as they read, even raising their shovels: "I want to catch a drought demon! That's the only way our theme park will be complete!"

"I want to catch one too! I want to catch ten reanimated humans!"

Big Purple: "Don't bring weird creatures back to the underground palace!"

Ancient Tomb Code II finally rode the wave to success, receiving tremendous praise on the forums.

Forum readers couldn't help thinking:

"This Blue Planet Literary Triangle seems to have way more substance than that Original Pentagram."

"By the way, what were the names of the Pentagram authors again?"

Meanwhile, Xi Yujin had returned to the Tidal Peace and was frantically updating his novels.

After resting enough, it was time to keep grinding!

Xun Ming's readers were overjoyed. Xun Ming was updating so diligently that they felt every day might be their last meal. Xun Ming's readers even went to the Reader's Digest official website and posted tearful messages of gratitude under Yongye and Canghai's replies. What makes a pigeon stop abandoning their novel? What makes a crater finally get filled? It's the soul-stirring power of friendship!

Xun Ming had updated to the point where the protagonist team was already competing in the regional league finals.

Readers enthusiastically discussed the recurring elements. For example, every time the protagonist went to a new place to compete, he would resolve issues with a close friend, and then their friendship would produce perfect teamwork in the match, achieving a comeback victory. So readers joked that friendship was the book’s number-one cheat skill.

But the passionate youth depicted within was so moving that even if some parts were unrealistic, reader loyalty remained high. Chaos Gale also successfully went premium, and Xun Ming was finally making money.

In the latest updates, Gale's second ability was exposed. The antagonists pointed out that this second ability belonged to the most dangerous Chaos system and that Gale should be eliminated. Gale was only 15 at this point, and though the protagonist team was young, they greatly valued their friendship. They helped Gale escape, but Gale fell into the Sealing Wall and vanished without a trace.

The plot was heartbreaking, and readers cried out again, hoping Xun Ming wouldn't suddenly indulge in melodrama. This stirred up some discussion on the forums.

More onlookers waited to see the show. Both Blue Planet novelists had submitted their answers. Xun Ming, weren’t you going to say something?

Xun Ming immediately provided an answer.

"Why do I say I have no rivals on Blue Planet? Probably because those who write well don't write as much as I do, and those who write more than I do don't write as well."

Readers responded: "And you call that writing a lot?"

"Wait, I think I've figured something out." After verifying their answer, one reader immediately made a forum post: "Xun Ming, that meteorite spirit, has started another new novel! It's called Starship Management APP!"

Xun Ming's "much" actually referred to the number of novels he'd started!