Tidal Peace landed on the Materialist Reading Society's planet.

Xi Yujin and Gano stepped off the ship, their presence so commanding that other creatures avoided their gaze.

"I am Yujin, Blue Planet's diplomatic representative and the authorized agent of all Blue Planet novelists. Due to circumstances beyond our control, I am here on Yongye's behalf for this academic discussion." Xi Yujin spoke directly. "This is my friend, Gano."

Gano's armor displayed mysterious crimson patterns as he floated behind, like a knight statue awaiting orders.

"Y-Yes… Mr. Yongye informed us of this situation in advance." The pink starfish said. It didn't doubt that Yujin knew Mr. Yongye. Watching their elegant manner of greeting, they were practically identical, as if they had been taught at the same school.

The Reading Society had already given Yongye many concessions, so having someone else attend the defense didn't matter.

They walked onto a massive clock face. Beneath the glass, the hour hand ticked forward. Prisms that densely cover the walls gathered beams of light, casting a soft glow over Xi Yujin. The other creatures were mesmerized.

Xi Yujin appeared completely composed, but internally, he thought that being adored by countless seafood creatures in the interstellar age really wasn't something to be happy about.

He sat in the center chair and casually pulled out an electronic display showing a countdown: 11:23:23.

"My time is precious," Xi Yujin said lightly. "I hope we can finish before my ban takes effect."

The Reading Society members were greatly alarmed. Now, when they looked at Yujin, they no longer saw a beautiful creature, but rather a legendary monster of literature.

A few cosmic hours ago, Yujin had published Flying Over the Pyramid. As Flying Duck Novel Network's rivals, they had, of course, quickly read through it, even though headaches had interrupted their reading multiple times. Although the article tried to use accessible language to clarify the world's relationships, there was still much that required careful thought.

The entire Reading Society wanted to write a review of Yujin's work but found themselves unable to begin. No matter what angle they approached it from, something felt lacking. Every word seemed to help them understand the world, and moments of sudden clarity refreshed their minds, as if their souls had shed heavy grime and had been reborn.

Moreover, they vaguely felt that this article could provide them with great inspiration, pointing the Materialist Reading Society toward a new direction of thought.

A massive 180° light screen unfolded. Information from the Materialist Reading Society headquarters crossed tens of millions of light-years to appear before Yujin.

The main prize for the "Materialism as the Foundation" essay contest was the complete friendship of the Materialist Reading Society.

The Materialist Reading Society needed to confirm that they were making a good friend.

In this universe, the understanding of the world was divided into idealism and materialism. This division differed from Earth's. No Earth philosopher would agree that consciousness preceded matter.

Earth's idealism was something more complex and profound; the opposition between matter and consciousness was only absolute within a limited scope. But in this universe, the belief that consciousness comes first was common, with consciousness seen as ruling the world.

The universe was too vast. Some creatures had extremely sensitive visual cells and saw the universe as a colorful panorama, while some creatures hadn't evolved eyes and had bodies the size of a human thumb. The worlds these two types of creatures "perceived" were completely different. Even if they spent their entire lives in interstellar travel, they could only explore a tiny portion of the universe. How could you convince them they were perceiving the same universe?

That was why Xi Yujin found it rather amusing that, before even greater storms swept this galaxy, he still had to come here to claim a prize.

The initial Q&A was very simple. For example, how to prove the Flash Empire had history, or how to refute the debate topic "Blue Planet is not a planet." During the Q&A, Xi Yujin felt like he'd returned to exam days. This nervous feeling made him somewhat nostalgic, bringing a smile to his face.

The surveillance camera on that light screen inexplicably turned in a different direction. For the final question, it changed its questioning style, as if a living creature was peering from behind.

"Blue Planet? Interesting… What is your species' philosophy like?"

"Blue Planet has many philosophies, but the one I prefer tells the story of a drowning person," Xi Yujin said. "When someone is about to drown, what is their biggest concern?

Some people care about the concept of water. Some care about water's density and mass. But does that help the drowning person? No. They only think about how to be saved, so they desperately swim upward to breathe air. This act of striking the water with one's body, we call it practice. Practice is the bridge connecting humans to the world. Our philosophy is one centered on the human being as the subject."

"The human as the subject…"

What Xi Yujin considered perfectly straightforward words set off alarms in the Reading Society members' minds. Some began thinking deeply. Others connected this phrase to Flying Over the Pyramid, momentarily lost in thought, as if an invisible key was about to find its lock. This answer also flew to headquarters tens of millions of light-years away, sparking interest among certain creatures.

"By the way, this is the final manuscript for The Case Files of Mr. Zhong." Xi Yujin submitted the last manuscript. With this, Yongye had finally filled his pit. How wonderful!

He blinked and added, "Please read it only after I leave."

The pink starfish nodded solemnly, its two tentacles cradling the manuscript like a treasure. It said eagerly: "May I shake your hand?"

Xi Yujin extended his hand. The pink starfish's tentacle wrapped around his wrist once and shook up and down.

Gano floated a bit closer, his light wings visibly extending by several dozen centimeters.

Xi Yujin loaded all the prizes onto Tidal Peace. There was a plaque engraved with "Certificate of Materialist Friendship," plus several large crates the size of wardrobes. Xi Yujin planned to open them after they were safe, so he left the boxes in the reception room. The pink starfish and the various seafood creatures bade them farewell with deep reluctance.

And thanks to Mr. Yujin's revelation, they felt their materialism had new room for development. This time, perhaps they could combine it with the new doubts emerging in the Pangshi Galaxy and unleash even greater power!

Their materialist conquest of the Pangshi Galaxy was just around the corner!

For a moment, a cheerful atmosphere spread through the Reading Society.

The creatures watched Tidal Peace become a black dot disappearing into the sky, then gathered around the pink starfish again, eager to read the next chapter of The Case Files of Mr. Zhong. They couldn't preview the specific contents, but surely, reading the titles was fine?

The pink starfish strictly followed Yujin's requirements, confirming the Tidal Peace had left their planet's range before grudgingly reading the title previews.

The creatures crowded closer.

"The next case is The Most Unlikely Murderer. Sounds very interesting!"

"The one after that is Mr. Shi's Puzzle Murder Case. Are Mr. Zhong and Mr. Shi finally going to face off? So exciting!"

"The one after that is… The final case already, this fast? Ah, wait, this name?"

The Reading Society's cheerful atmosphere instantly froze.

After a long while came a piercing scream:

"Why is the final case called The Death of Mr. Zhong?!"

"We, Blue Planet, guarantee to all factions that we will not interfere in their internal affairs and will respect the wishes of extraterrestrial beings…" Xi Yujin was typing out Blue Planet's diplomatic guidelines on his optical computer.

In the Three Courts' competition, digging a pit only for the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce would be playing favorites, right? Of course, he had to be a fair and impartial novelist, so he had to give the Materialist Reading Society an equally profound memory. As for the Flash Empire, he really liked their theme park, so he'd just submit his manuscript obediently…

He knew it was somewhat unscrupulous; otherwise, he wouldn't be fleeing in such a hurry.

It definitely wasn't because of a guilty conscience!

Next stop: the Flash Empire's prizes. This time, he would just grab and run.

While passing by the Reading Society's Court of Stars, an accident occurred. Xi Yujin's mental power erupted again, and a red fragment came flying from a distance, smashing through the newly replaced window glass.

This red fragment naturally became Xi Yujin's Typing Machine No. 3.

Xi Yujin looked at the Typing Machines, then at the gaping hole in the window, and sighed: "Good thing we have plenty of replacement glass."

He opened a replacement glass panel, planning to install it himself. However, while passing the Flash Empire's Court of Stars, another small fragment flew over, creating an extremely long blue tail flame.

Typing Machine No. 4 smoothly merged into Xi Yujin's gravitational field, and four Typing Machines now orbited him in different trajectories.

Xi Yujin, who had just finished replacing the glass: …

Hearing the alarm, Gano came from the cockpit. He looked at the glass shards on the floor and at Xi Yujin, who suddenly had two more asteroids. He couldn't help but freeze.

Do you, Blue Planet people, capture asteroids this fast?! Two more in the blink of an eye!

Gano noticed his armor core had moved to a position far from Yujinno again. He wanted to speak but hesitated as his gaze wandered.

Xi Yujin had a sudden idea and took matters into his own hands by personally moving Gano's armor core to the closest position. This time, he wouldn't trouble Gano to secretly switch it himself. Then he arranged Typing Machines 1, 2, 3, and 4 in capture order and said to Gano: "We need to replace the glass again."

Gano nodded, looking somewhat dazed.

Tidal Peace steadily parked in the orbital space around the Flash Empire's planet.

Xi Yujin reappeared as "Yujin," but this time wrapped in a thick cloak. He hadn't forgotten that the Flash Empire was searching for a diamond hatchling, and he didn't want to be mistaken for one.

To facilitate the Flash Clan's comings and goings, a hole had been burned through the planet's atmosphere, looking like latte art on a coffee cup from space. Down on the surface, there was eternal darkness, extremely low temperatures, and oceans that were basically ice-water mixtures. Only the Flash Clan served as the rare gods of light. Xi Yujin’s thick cloak didn’t stand out, while Gano proceeded in his armor.

"Welcome, Blue Planet diplomat."

As the award presenter, Big Purple was exceedingly generous. Not only did it allow Xi Yujin to accept the prize on another’s behalf, but it also permitted Gano to accompany him. It gave the Tidal Peace a mysterious, large package, then fulfilled its promise to show Xi Yujin and Gano the Flash Clan's underground palace.

They had to enter through the ocean.

According to Flash Clan science, planets had four layers. The part from ocean to sky was the Smoke Layer, named for the many floating particles that made them uncomfortable. Where they lived was called the Rock Layer, below was the Heat Layer, and at the very core was the Electric Layer.

To prevent microorganism contamination of the underground palace, Xi Yujin and Gano had to undergo sterilization procedures. Then they took an elevator down through a large chimney in the ocean to the planet's core.

The elevator was very spacious that even Big Purple fit comfortably inside. Big Purple took the opportunity to explain Flash Clan science.

That large chimney was gurgling black smoke, which was the waste being constantly expelled by their Heat Layer technology. Since the waste area was relatively warmer in the ocean, the chimney vicinity had a fairly rich marine ecosystem, and beautiful deep-sea coral reefs grew in clusters.

The seawater disappeared above their heads, and the only remaining light came from the Flash Clan member beside them. Descending from the Smoke Layer, they arrived at the Rock Layer. The walls here had extremely magnificent mineral patterns, which Big Purple introduced as Flash Clan mineral art: look at this wave pattern, this well pattern, weren't they particularly beautiful?

Xi Yujin nodded, secretly thinking that art really was something incomprehensible.

The Rock Layer also had some strange hollows. Big Purple said they had once contained nuclear waste, left by who knows whom. It was one of the Flash Clan's ten greatest unsolved mysteries. Later, the nuclear waste was used as shipbuilding material for their people.

Xi Yujin nodded, thinking how there was once a civilization that, not knowing how to handle nuclear waste, buried it underground, waiting for future humans to recycle it.

Hmm, the more you thought about it, the more terrifying it became…

The Rock Layer was also the Flash Tribe's entertainment venue, with huge hollows for underground concerts, reading gatherings, and other purposes.

"Our mobility is limited," Big Purple said. "In the beginning, our world was no larger than mining tunnels. To have such wide, stable spaces was nothing but a fool’s dream. So the true grandeur of our underground palace lies in how we continually conquered hardship and shattered the impossible."

The Flash Clan used the "Underground World" writing competition to mock novelists, precisely out of absolute pride in their own abilities. Exploring space, most creatures could do that. Exploring and conquering the underground: only the Flash Tribe had done it.

Xi Yujin grew thoughtful.

Below the Rock Layer was the Heat Layer.

The deeper they went, the greater the pressure, and the higher the temperature. The gaps between matter were infinitely compressed, leaving only a flowing metal.

There was an eerie silence here, as if you could hear the roaring of machines. The Flash Clan had made this liquid metal into their supercomputer, and the liquid metal's ripples were the computer's logical judgments.

Ordinary steel machinery would soften and deform here. If not for the thick cabin protecting him, Xi Yujin suspected he would sublimate.

Big Purple cheerfully pointed at the surging liquid metal outside the elevator cabin, saying that they often came here to meditate. When their ancestors explored the Heat Layer, they invented something called a "ship," which other species would call a submarine. Xi Yujin watched the view outside and also inexplicably felt his mind grow peaceful.

Going down one more level, Gano's Ers Royal Armor sounded an alarm.

"It's the Peace Prohibition," Gano said. "According to the Universal Peace Treaty, Zergs cannot proceed to any intelligent species' civilization core area."

He stopped on a sealed platform, placing his great sword before him. "I will wait here for Yujinno's call."

Xi Yujin asked for leeway, and the Flash Tribe side was quite accommodating, but it was Gano himself who refused to go forward. Xi Yujin could only ask Gano to wait for him to come out. He would firmly memorize the core palace's wonders to share with Gano.

"Zerg." A nearby Flash Clan member, witnessing their parting firsthand, couldn't help muttering. "I haven't seen a Zerg in a long time. All the Flash Clan members who experienced that war have already built ships and left. I almost forgot those memories… What is he to you, Mr. Yujin?"

Xi Yujin was sprayed with another layer of disinfectant. "He's my friend."

The Flash Clan member knew that friend had different meanings on Blue Planet and nodded. "Then it's a pity to cruelly separate you two… Hey, don't worry, you'll be reunited after the tour!" The elevator descended. The Flash Clan member waved to Gano above, and Xi Yujin also waved goodbye for now.

Beneath his armor, Gano held his breath in shock.

Only when the rock swallowed the elevator and silence returned did the knight armor suddenly tilt its head slightly, as if struck by an unbelievable fact.

"My head is a bit overloaded…" Gano wanted to fly a couple of laps in space, but couldn't.

The elevator descended, arriving at the Flash underground palace's Electric Layer.

Xi Yujin was completely suspended in midair. When the elevator cabin doors opened, at an unfathomable depth of 86,000 meters, he actually saw bands of light stretching endlessly. Electricity surged silently.

Countless tiny crystals were tightly bound by magnetism, forming mirror-like river surfaces. They spiraled and emitted faint light, becoming the pillars of the entire underground palace.

"That area has an extremely high temperature. It could even burn through us. Please don't touch it," Big Purple kindly warned.

Within several spiraling, suspended rivers, a small mineral sphere floated in the very center, like an infant planet.

"This is our monument," Da Zi said. "The absolute center of our underground palace."

Xi Yujin asked: "Why place the monument here?"

"We, the Flash Clan, were born underground, but not at the core. The first of us was born ten thousand meters deep in the Rock Layer. Myth says our ancestors were mud monsters that became hardened after being hammered by the planet. But actual research shows that our ancestors were parasitic mineral shrimp, which were creatures that parasitized minerals and eventually fused with them, becoming living stone."

Big Purple explained in detail:

"At first, our ancestors weren't very dense. In the sunless underground, there were only two directions: things denser than us, and things less dense than us. Going in either direction caused us pain. Going toward lower density, those loose materials would seep into our bodies. Going toward higher density, the high pressure would twist and flatten our bodies.

But our ancestors evolved density-balancing technology from this: taking high-density material and filling it in the low-density direction. This way, our range of movement grew larger and larger. From a macro perspective, we were constantly digging soil beneath our feet and filling it above our heads, so we kept advancing toward the planet's core.

We dug through the Rock Layer and reached the Heat Layer, and our technology developed a second time. We learned to use flowing metal to transmit signals, and we developed a metallic internet and discovered more of our kind. Geothermal technology helped us break through the Heat Layer, and at the same time, the heat forged our bodies into something even harder.

When we reached the Electric Layer, its terrifying temperature and magnetism drove us back. But how could our exploration ever stop? So we endured for a long stretch of time.

We, Flash Clan, move with difficulty; our lifespans are long, but our actual range of motion is limited. Our world consisted of nothing but mining tunnels… Finally, through our own hands, we learned to control electricity and magnetism, and this time, we truly reached the Electric Layer.

But what lay beyond the Electric Layer? Back then, our scientists continued to explore, drilling ever deeper. To our disappointment, beyond the Electric Layer was yet another Heat Layer. Was the world nothing but endless accumulations of rock, heat, and electricity?

After much discussion, we finally made a decision: to fully balance the density of the Electric Layer into a space suitable for us. As I said, we move with difficulty, so you can imagine how hard it was for us to create a larger space. Yet, in order to uncover the truth of the world, we chose to do it anyway.

After a very long time, the first Electric Layer underground palace was completed. It turned out to be an irregular ellipsoid! At last, we deduced the correct planetary model. The Electric Layer was the core, not our sky. The true sky lay beneath our feet.

We had to return to the surface…

But to reach the true surface meant performing density balancing on an even larger scale. Our experts estimated that the legendary Rock Layer above contained at least a hundred thousand meters of low-density space. Even if we hollowed out the entire Heat Layer, it would be difficult to balance the density…

So, our ancestors made a crucial decision and implemented two plans at once. One was a long-term density-balancing plan: slowly filling the earth upward, creating passages that even weaker Flash Clan members could traverse. The other was an unbalanced exploration plan. Several warriors were chosen, outfitted with the simplest pressure suits, and sent to explore the Smoke Layer…

The pressure suits could only sustain them through the asthenosphere. In despair, they discovered that beyond a certain boundary lay matters of even lower density. The outside world, space, could never be filled…

But one explorer broke through the crust and was swept out by the ocean current, and the pressurized suit instantly failed.

When it awoke, it found itself on a shallow beach. Much time had passed, and the pressure changes had blasted several holes into its body. Moss and ice-ocean coral had grown in those holes, and many transparent small fish swam through the coral while larger spiny fish chased the small fish. The ocean then was cold and dangerous, and the star was far from us, yet the light and heat from the explorer's body had actually nurtured a small ecosystem.

And when they sat up, this planet had light for the first time."

The radiance on the Big Purple body shimmered, reflecting off the surrounding mirror-like river. No wonder the Flash Empire was so proud. When a creature becomes the sun in other creatures' eyes, it cannot help but be proud.

"The explorer returned after countless hardships. Its remaining body was nearly corroded by the high-concentration ocean, but it wore a happy expression. Even as it turned into stone, they kept speaking dreamily of that feeling.

'I drifted on the sea, carrying many tiny creatures, and breaking through the ice ocean with my hard body. They lived, and I lived. We are life, and life is a miracle. I am a great ship laden with miracles.

And a ship's instinct is to keep sailing…'

We are very forgetful. Once we turn to stone, it's hard to find records. But through our long evolution, we were finally able to stand on the surface, break through the atmosphere, and see space for the first time.

We never forgot those words. A ship's instinct is to keep sailing.

So we built this monument at the underground palace's center, in memory of the explorer, and as our departure port for returning to the sky."

"However…" Da Zi said, "That was all during our isolated planet era. Perhaps I've misremembered much in this interstellar era, but I don't want future generations to misremember too. I want to build a new underground palace to truly record our history."

Xi Yujin felt as if he'd seen a long scroll of history unroll. The underground palace had no real practical meaning. It couldn't shelter the Flash Clan from wind or rain, but it was precisely through such seemingly meaningless acts that they had found the meaning of life. They waited on their planet for ages, then built themselves a truly great ship.

"Interstellar travel…"

Xi Yujin's eyes showed hazy longing: "Now I feel like my journey of exploration has been too little. I want to venture deeper into the universe, to see the possibilities of another cosmos with eyes from Earth."

He really wanted to go exploring with Gano right now.

But there was one final matter to wrap up.

After admiring the suspended core for a while, he handed Big Purple a surveillance backup, explaining that this was evidence of the Ginseng Spirits using an illegal assassination AI, along with a high-definition, unedited photo of the Ginseng Spirits. The Pangshi Galaxy had no definite laws; generally, the Flash Clan judged at will.

"This race has been blacklisted by Blue Planet," he said. "But it looks very much like the Hundred-Year Radish Jade from Canghai's book. I think it has considerable ornamental value."

Big Purple understood. "My kin would be very happy that the theme park can feature creatures from the book, and my people's hobbies are hard to change…" From its manner, the Ginseng Spirits would probably spend a very long time at the theme park working as staff while reflecting on their actions.

Suddenly, a strange gust from the planetary core blew through, blowing off Xi Yujin's cloak.

In the entire vast underground palace, a small glimmer of silver light suddenly appeared. This bit of light was so tiny compared to the giants' red, blue, yellow, green, and purple, yet so impossible to ignore. All the Flash Clan members, who had just been immersed in Big Purple’s story, were now struck dumb with shock.

Xi Yujin stiffly looked up, as if he could hear these giants' inner thoughts.

It has been so long since a new generation of the Flash Clan found a diamond hatchling, so when they saw him, the entire empire exploded!

The leader gave an order: Spoil him! The whole Empire, spoil him with everything we've got!

First of all, he wasn't actually a mineral spirit. He was a star with a human soul that transformed into a diamond spirit.

Second, how exactly did these Flash Clan members spoil their children?

Nurture them in the planet's core thermal fluid for ten thousand years!

The universe was truly full of danger…

Maintaining his composure, Xi Yujin grabbed Typing Machine No. 1 and said:

"Gano. Help."