Xi Yujin glanced back at the scattered points of starlight behind them, and without any change in his expression, he pushed the speed to maximum. The pressure immediately slammed him against the pilot's seat.

Yet he maintained his composure and even had the leisure to joke with Gano. "This is when we should play some rock music to make it cooler. Rock is a music genre from our Blue Planet."

Gano sat in the co-pilot's seat and pulled up the rear monitoring display. "The number of ships tracking us has increased from 108 to 1,276, and it's still climbing. Tidal Peace is just a mining vessel, and speed isn't its strong suit. At this rate, the enemy will catch up to us in 0.5 cosmic hours. Yujinno, please give instructions."

"Don't panic," Xi Yujin replied calmly. "I have a backup plan."

Given his cautious and survival-oriented nature, he had naturally thought through escape routes many times. Their destination was the Navigator Colossus, which was closest to the Flash Empire's Court of Stars. That was why they were saving the Flash Empire's award ceremony for last. He'd also considered Tidal Peace's lack of speed, so his solution was to disrupt their pursuers and slow them down.

He switched to his Xun Ming alias, planning to promote Yujin's works once more and completely ignite the readers' emotions.

When that happened, the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce would fall into chaos. Ships would pour out from every planet, making it much harder for his pursuers to find him.

Meanwhile, the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce was also extremely anxious.

They knew better than anyone that they might be facing a major crisis.

Regardless of whether they win or lose, the outcome would inevitably involve catastrophic economic losses.

"Boss, our partners across multiple regions are expressing dissatisfaction with the unified pricing!" Big White Duck said anxiously beside Yellow Duck Boss. "But what's worse is that many ground-level merchants are saying our platform is… is…" It closed its eyes. "…ignoring the rights of both customers and merchants, exploiting both sides…"

Yellow Duck Boss flapped its wings in rage. "How dare they! Don't they know how hard we work?!"

But then its heart seized. It seemed like Flying Over the Pyramid had already covered this conversation.

Flying Over the Pyramid understood capitalists even better than they understood themselves. It laid out every disguise and trap with perfect clarity. It was precisely because that novel was so prophetic that Yellow Duck Boss found it terrifying.

What Yujin did wasn't some hidden conspiracy; it was an open scheme, with all the cards laid bare on the table.

"Our top priority right now is to find Blue Planet's Yujin!"

Yellow Duck Boss gave the order, and Big White Duck nodded solemnly.

"As for the chaos… stall for as long as possible. We can release false information!" It instructed its subordinates to make one final strike. Several posts about Xun Ming soon appeared on the forum.

When Xi Yujin logged onto the website, he discovered that Xun Ming was also about to face a storm.

One reader wrote tearfully: "Have you all heard? Xun Ming lost so badly to Yujin that he decided to abandon his pits and seal his pen forever!"

"My Fairy Tale of a Life and Death Romance was just missing the ending!"

"Chaos Gale? Starship Management APP? House of Lies?"

"So it turns out Million Gods' Wager is the only one he actually finished, and even that was completed by another novelist filling his pit. How could he do this?!"

"Xun Ming!! WHY?!!"

What? Where did this fake news come from?! He had never once thought about digging pits without filling them.

Xi Yujin grabbed a sock puppet account and tried multiple times to guide the discussion, but no reader would listen to him.

"Readers who just heard their novel is being abandoned are at peak fury. The only thing that could calm them down is if I posted saved drafts…" But what saved drafts did Xi Yujin have? He was already satisfied if he could finish each day's update on time. "This time, I actually got played by the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce…"

He sat at the control console with his fingers interlaced and silently fell into deep thought.

After a while, the monitors showed that the ships behind them had reached 72,509, and Tidal Peace was still some distance from the navigator colossus.

"Gano, what do you think of Yongye's The Death of Mr. Zhong? Do you also find it hard to accept?"

Xi Yujin chatted in his usual tone. Gano had basically read all his manuscripts, and they occasionally discussed plot points together.

Gano's tone was equally normal, without a hint of bias. "The plot design qualifies it as an excellent work. Mr. Zhong's characterization was deeply memorable, yet he didn't receive a happy ending in the conventional sense. It's only natural that readers feel deceived. The novelist Yongye seems to enjoy toying with people's emotions, which is somewhat unsettling."

"Oh? Is… is that so…" Xi Yujin said.

He thought for another second, then continued using the anonymous sock puppet account. He decided to steer the discussion in a different direction. This was his second backup plan.

He could do this. He was a novelist, after all!

He posted on the forum: "Does the chapter The Death of Mr. Zhong contain foreshadowing?"

He had no intention of resurrecting Mr. Zhong. A great detective who hadn't personally died at least once couldn't really call themselves a great detective. But sparking reader discussion might at least reduce the attention on Yongye himself.

The post received many replies.

"I also think there's foreshadowing."

"Everyone's being too hasty. Mr. Yongye must have a reason for writing it this way."

"I found something! The Death of Mr. Zhong never described any features of the body. Maybe Mr. Zhong isn't really dead!"

Xi Yujin breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he'd forgotten to write about the body. He felt a little sorry for that reader, though. Sometimes authors don't think that deeply; they just simply forget certain plot details.

But then, after one particular reply, the situation spiraled out of control like a mudslide.

"Foreshadowing? I found some too! Yongye's emotional outline was taught to him by Xun Ming! Proof in the image!"

"Do you know who Xun Ming really is? Calling him the master of feel-good novels or a challenger to the Blue Planet literary scene doesn't even begin to cover it!"

"What Xun Ming is truly best at is writing melodrama!"

"The double-death ending for Mr. Zhong and Mr. Shi was planned from the start! Hahaha, I'm not crazy, hahaha, I'm perfectly healthy, my mental confusion is getting better. I'm a healthy being, and now I'm going to have a friendly chat with our dear novelist. I'm setting sail!"

"Count. Me. In."

Xi Yujin covered his face in agony. How could he have forgotten about this? Xun Ming, I'm so sorry. Another crime has been added to your record. But you're so good at surviving, you'll definitely be fine, right?

He glanced at the ships behind them. The fleet racing at full speed looked like sesame seeds scattered between planets, conspicuous against the backdrop of space. Tidal Peace executed a massive drift around a planet, and the pursuing fleet curved along with it, spreading out like an unfolding fan.

"Currently, 1.25 million ships have locked onto us," Gano reported. "Based on my calculations, I will exit the ship at 3 million units to escort Yujinno to the final destination. Please rest assured."

"No, no, no." Xi Yujin quickly dismissed the idea. "I still have one last backup plan… At this point, our only option is to play the victim for the readers!"

Using Yujin's account, he posted a diplomatic announcement. It declared that Blue Planet would henceforth blacklist the Ginseng Spirits. The reason: the Ginseng Spirits had shown complete disregard for the lives of Blue Planet citizens by carrying out cruel and inhumane assassination attempts. This behavior had crossed Blue Planet's bottom line.

That day, when Yongye and Canghai didn't update, and when Xun Ming suddenly went into hiding, it was all because of those terrifying assassination attempts! The novelists had been traumatized, so fleeing the Pangshi Galaxy was perfectly reasonable. However, they would absolutely never abandon their novels.

But things didn't go as planned. The moment the announcement went out, the ships pursuing Tidal Peace immediately surged past 2 million.

Xi Yujin scrolled through the replies.

It turned out everyone assumed that the millions of ships following Tidal Peace were the Ginseng Spirits' assassination squad. They needed to hurry up and rescue Tidal Peace.

Outside of the Hyperspace War, the entire Pangshi Galaxy had never witnessed such a spectacle. Their entertainment industry had been completely dominated by a single literary world called Blue Planet. Their hearts were all captivated by Blue Planet's novelists.

Regardless of species, age, or gender, every ship had a single purpose: find the Tidal Peace!

And then cordially invite the Blue Planet novelist inside to come out.

"How did I screw this up again…" Xi Yujin fell into bewilderment. "Do stellar beings still experience Mercury retrograde?"

Tidal Peace's twin engine trails were expanded to their maximum, making it look like a comet streaking through space. The cockpit beeped warnings that they were exceeding safe speeds, but Xi Yujin reached over and disabled the safety limiters.

Xi Yujin and Gano could now see the Navigator Colossus with their own eyes. Compared to the port star, the Navigator Colossus looked no bigger than a sunflower seed. But it had already completed one-quarter of its acceleration cycle and was preparing to jump out of the Pangshi Galaxy.

Gano suddenly spoke. "Actually, there's a very simple solution."

He looked at Xi Yujin, and Xi Yujin looked back at him.

"Bring Xun Ming, Eternal Night, and Canghai out. Using short-range communication, they could speak with the other beings directly. That would buy us enough time to reach our destination."

The Tidal Peace's cockpit fell eerily silent.

Meanwhile, the millions of ships finally encountered the long-delayed chaos. Many discovered old enemies among the fleet. In particular, several beings who had been squeezed hard spotted the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce's luxury cruiser. Their eyes turned red with fury, and they immediately charged over to settle scores.

The Materialist Reading Society wanted to use this opportunity to spread their ideology, but when they encountered fellow readers who were also suffering through the detective series, they instantly forgot everything else. They joined together in expressing their grief, determined to use their passion to move Yongye's heart.

The Flash Tribe was still worried about their newborn cub. What if he turned out to be a fragile species?

In the distance, the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce's luxury ship dodged left and right. Before they knew it, they'd drifted close to the Flash Tribe's massive vessel. Both ships were equipped with visual communication that required no special access, so they could talk even in the vacuum of space.

"A duck?" Big Purple was distracted from its thoughts by the chaos. It watched as the mastermind behind the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce stepped onto the deck and met its gaze from across the void.

"A Flash Clan member…" Yellow Duck Boss's emotions were clearly far more complicated than Big Purple's. Looking at the giant bathed in radiance, the boss remembered the first time they'd seen a Flash Clan member. But it was the 33rd President of the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce. It had to be the steering duck representing all the Flying Ducks' interests. It was loyal to profit and couldn't afford mistakes.

"You look somewhat familiar." Big Purple pondered for a moment. It occasionally heard about the ground-dwellers' affairs, but the Flash Clan generally didn't pay much attention to such things. In their eyes, the Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce was just a species that happened to own a lot of land. Out of respect for an organization that had established a presence in the Court of Stars, it asked with lofty politeness: "Have we met before?"

Yellow Duck Boss looked at Big Purple with a complicated expression.

"I remember you," Big Purple finally recalled, finding the memory in a tiny scratch on its own body. "Back then, you were pushing a little cart selling things. I never imagined you'd become the boss of a whole chamber of commerce. What a surprising transformation. Congratulations."

The little yellow ducks in helmets behind the Yellow Duck Boss whispered among themselves: "We've never heard about Boss having a time like that. Didn't Boss rise straight from clerk to the top?"

Yellow Duck Boss said bluntly, "That wasn't me. That was my great-grandfather."

Their great-grandfather had pushed a little cart selling duck-down clothing. Once, when a Flash Clan member emerged from underground, the wind they created knocked the great-grandfather over. The great-grandfather rolled several times and landed in a cold place.

Big Purple had scooped up the little yellow duck with its massive hand, carefully set them upright, then continued ascending and broke through the atmosphere.

The great-grandfather had stared in amazement, chasing after Big Purple, calling out thank you. They remembered that scene their whole life. On their deathbed, they boasted to their descendants: "You have no idea how beautiful the Flash Clan are! The light that day was the warmest light I've ever seen in my life… How I wish I could see it just once more!"

Time had passed. Now, Yellow Duck Boss stood on a luxury deck in space, facing Big Purple from across the void.

Big Purple asked, "Is your great-grandfather doing well?"

Yellow Duck Boss replied, "The elder has already flown to join the stars."

It stared at Big Purple's expression, not wanting to miss even the slightest change.

The massive Flash Clan member seemed somewhat puzzled, though the change was incredibly subtle. Big Purple looked at the little yellow duck, identical to the one that had once rested in its palm. Maybe all ducks looked the same, or maybe these two just happened to be remarkably similar; it had difficulty distinguishing all the beings it had encountered. A small ripple rose in its heart, then faded away.

Stars burned, planets orbited, and ships flew onward. In this peculiar moment, Big Purple finally found words to express what it felt.

"So… this much time has already passed."

It turned and left. The meeting between the two faction leaders of the Pangshi Galaxy ended just like that.

Yellow Duck Boss's beak fell open. Resentment arose over the brevity of their kind's lives, mixed with sorrow over the irreversible flow of time. It flapped its wings and declared, "I will rise again! Just you wait! The Flying Duck Chamber of Commerce's legacy will outlast any star!"

The other little yellow ducks looked at their boss in confusion. Wasn't their current mission to make lots of money? When had it changed to pursuing immortality?

"This is bad!"

A shout came from the Flash Clan's ship.

"We know where the Tidal Peace is heading! They're going to link up with the Navigator Colossus!"

By now, the Navigator Colossus was so close it nearly filled the entire viewport. Just a little more distance, and the Tidal Peace would enter the navigator colossus's orbital range and successfully make the jump.

Yet, inside the Tidal Peace, there was an eerie calm. Xi Yujin looked at Gano's face. In that split second, countless backup plans flashed through his mind. His core goal was simply to survive, so he naturally wouldn't reveal secrets easily.

But their recent time together was still fresh in his mind. Deceiving a friend made his conscience uneasy, and he couldn't help but hesitate.

"You don't need to worry about my feelings," Gano said calmly. "I was merely proposing an option. If this puts any burden on Yujinno, I apologize." His voice dropped lower. His emotions only became pronounced when discussing matters concerning Xi Yujin.

"In my view, none of them matter. I want to continue traveling with Yujinno, regardless of what role I play…"

Gano's black hair fell over his green eyes; something seemed off. In truth, Gano's brain was beginning to overload.

Xi Yujin froze, and the scale in his heart tipped.

"You've probably already noticed that Xun Ming and Yongye haven't appeared inside the ship, haven't you?"

Gano nodded.

"You've also noticed that on the StarNet, they always say things about being locked in a little black room or whatever… Actually…"

Gano nodded.

Xi Yujin took a deep breath. "What I'm about to tell you is a terrifying truth. Don't be afraid."

"I can already guess. This isn't uncommon among cosmic species, and it's even more common among us Zergs. You don't need to feel morally burdened."

"Lying really makes me feel uneasy…"

"If that's the case, allow me to say it on your behalf. If my guess is correct—"

Xi Yujin: "Yes, I have dissociative identity disorder."

At the same time, Gano spoke: "They made Yujinno sad, so they were imprisoned."

 

 

Author's Note:

Gano: ?

Xi Yujin: ???