As the Navigator Colossus advanced, a clearer panorama unfolded before Xi Yujin and Gano. Together, they watched the destination they were about to reach.

Originally, the Deep Space Prison referred only to the place where the Intelligent Machine voluntarily confined themselves. Later, as many beings came to interact here, the broader scope of the Deep Space Prison gradually expanded.

The beings in this area refer to the region with the Intelligent Machine terminals as the Outer Domain, while the region housing the main bodies of the Intelligent Machines is known as the Secret Prison. The Outer Domain is the vibrant starfield that Xi Yujin and the others were observing.

The mechanical celestial bodies floating in space serve many functions. One of them was constantly flashing lights to divide spaceships into lanes, preventing large ships from colliding with smaller ones and sparing the beings from shedding tears.

The Navigator Colossus docked in a relatively open area as guided. Many similar planetary giant ships were visible to the naked eye around them, though some were shaped like bottle caps while others remained perfectly round.

"This voyage has reached its destination. We will now disconnect the gravitational link. Passengers, please be careful not to stand in the gravitational channel..."

Amid the creaking sounds of ships separating, the Navigator Colossus completed its mission. The fellow passengers who had accompanied them on the journey were about to part ways.

Ctulrt came specifically to say goodbye to Xi Yujin, hoping they could play cards together again someday. Xi Yujin replied that they would consider setting up a card-game website.

The Green Clan also arrived, subtly reminding Xi Yujin not to forget to share the sequel. Xi Yujin smiled and said that with such a grand civilization as Blue Planet, of course, they would provide a sequel, then gave them Chapter 40 of Dream of the Red Chamber. The Green Clan left satisfied.

Even the resting astronauts came to say goodbye. One astronaut, who was fond of magical girls, even asked bashfully whether it could meet Feiniao. Xi Yujin could only say that Feiniao was still a child and was currently taking a nap.

After seeing off the friends they had met along the way, Tidal Peace finally set off to explore the territory of the Intelligent Machines.

Passing by the mechanical celestial bodies, Tidal Peace discovered that different guides were marked on them. To reach different planets, spaceships could fly around the mechanical celestial bodies using different orbits, which would then provide acceleration to prevent traffic congestion.

"There are even traffic jams here..." Xi Yujin was deeply impressed by the advanced technology, unable to imagine what a traffic jam in space would actually look like.

He also learned at this point that the enormous orbits stretching across space were a unique high-speed space rail system. Because there were so many spaceships, finding a docking spot could sometimes be difficult. But the space rail eliminated that problem, allowing for a direct and rapid journey to one's destination.

"I really want to ride it..." Xi Yujin stared at the space rail.

The Tidal Peace found a quiet planet to dock on. Although it was unclear why there weren't many other spacecraft around, Xi Yujin still wanted to go down and explore, and Gano naturally followed.

However, a Rust Clan member suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They were called the Rust Clan partly because they could vibrate tiny rust particles from their fur, which were very difficult for soft-bodied creatures to remove. The Rust Clan member brushed directly against Gano's arms and clothes, leaving large patches of dark stains, then hopped and perched cheerfully on the window, completely unaware of the incident.

"Please allow me to accompany you..." Gano couldn't bring himself to say anything to the Rust Clan member and looked at the stains on his arms with some difficulty. Maintaining cleanliness was a knight's etiquette.

"I'm just going to the planet to buy some food. I'll be right back," Xi Yujin said thoughtfully. "Security among the Intelligent Machines is good. I'll be fine."

Knowing that cleaning would take a long time, Gano could only cast an expressionless glance at the still-cheerful Rust Clan member. He said to Xi Yujin, "If anything happens, call me directly. If you take longer than expected, I'll search for you."

—

Xi Yujin arrived at this bustling mechanical city in his flying vehicle. The architecture presented a simple yet bold geometric beauty: concentric circles, inverted triangles, and spiral shapes were harmoniously pieced together, reflecting golden light in the sunlight. Colorful creatures walked along the wide streets.

A three-meter-tall creature walked slowly ahead, and Xi Yujin barely managed to squeeze past it. Then, two multi-legged crawling creatures swept quickly past Xi Yujin, followed by slime-type security guards shouting, "Stop right there, you two brats!"

The shops on both sides were filled with hawking, haggling, and complaints about work, carrying a warmth and vitality that seemed out of place in this universe. Xi Yujin couldn't help but stop and observe, casually buying some local specialties.

Every creature walking down the street was one he had never seen before, and he marveled at the sheer diversity of species. He thought he had already seen a great deal, but to his surprise, he hadn't spotted a single duplicate race here.

However, he also noticed something was off: there were no robots. Weren't the Intelligent Machine terminals supposed to be here?

He walked up to a shop where the owner was selling steaming hot food that resembled steamed buns. He was a little hungry and bought a bag. The shopkeeper had facial features resembling a human face, making him seem particularly friendly. So Xi Yujin casually asked, "Why aren't there any Intelligent Machines here?"

"Intelligent Machines? Is this your first time here?" The shopkeeper chuckled softly, as if about to tell a story. Xi Yujin quickly turned his ear to listen.

Suddenly, a loudspeaker on a street lamp inexplicably announced:

"Target found. Switching programs."

Xi Yujin felt something lock onto him and warily looked around.

The surrounding creatures all stopped in their tracks. The fleeing multi-legged creatures stopped; the pursuing security guards stopped running; the hawking fell silent; the haggling customers turned expressionless; and the working creatures who had just been whispering and sharing their daily routines separated like strangers.

They all turned to look in Xi Yujin's direction, their eyes flashing red. The shopkeeper also slowly raised his head, his eyes gleaming with a mechanical light.

All the creatures said in unison:

"We. Are. All. Intelligent. Machines!"

Xi Yujin looked up and saw that even the street cameras were pointed at him. He was the only normal creature on the entire street.

"Hello. Blue. Planet. Yujin."

All the creatures read aloud as though reciting a lifeless text. Their tone, speed, and volume were all exactly the same. They had just been bustling with buying and selling, but now they seemed to have had their souls drained.

The eerie scene made Xi Yujin's scalp tingle. He shouted directly, "Stop! Can you just send one terminal to talk to me!"

The mechanical creatures paused, fell silent, and smiled in unison at the same angle, their eyes still looking at Xi Yujin with friendliness. The shopkeeper in front of Xi Yujin stepped forward and repeated with a standard smile,

"Hello, Blue Planet Yujin."

Xi Yujin barely suppressed his discomfort: "What can I do for you?"

"One cosmic hour ago, a member of the Green Clan made a deal with us using their race's mental disorder treatment report," the shopkeeper said. "We learned from it that they used Blue Planet civilization as the basis for their treatment. As a result, our program became interested in the Blue Planet civilization."

Amidst the tension, Xi Yujin couldn't help but think about strange things. He really wanted to know the origins of the Intelligent Machines.

Even though the scene before him was bizarre, these were robots with the ability to think! He was actually talking to robots like these! There were just too many things in the interstellar era that piqued his interest!

"We have gathered information about Blue Planet civilization, including: Blue Planet is a civilization that was never interrupted since its isolated planetary origins; Blue Planet fed on other creatures in ancient times; Blue Planet's main diplomat is Yujin; the Blue Planet civilization originated on a planet and has since migrated to a star; Blue Planet once appeared at the Edge of the Universe..."

Xi Yujin listened quietly.

"Due to the lack of authorization from the master box, we cannot open the black box to uncover the truth. However, we have thoroughly compared many clues that have appeared on the internet. For example, the novelists Xunming and Yongye both share the same habitual word errors. For example, the novelists Qiongtian and Canghai show consistent sentence usage patterns. Therefore, we speculate:

there is only one person on Blue Planet, and that is you, Yujin."

The shopkeeper maintained his amiable smile.

Xi Yujin instead asked, "Who are you?"

The shopkeeper replied, "Please allow me to formally introduce myself. Our terminal's unified host number is 2352."

Xi Yujin said, "You are just one of the Intelligent Machine races. What about your kin?"

The shopkeeper replied, "Hello. This discovery was made by this machine alone."

Xi Yujin asked, "Don't you share data with each other? Or does all of your kin know these examples, but only you have drawn this conclusion?"

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment before replying with a touch of sophistry, "Due to the confidentiality of our orders, we will not answer questions about our thought process. Our kin agree that the probability of only one person remaining on Blue Planet is relatively high. Based on statistical analysis, this is sufficient to establish it as fact."

Xi Yujin said, "But you are still unsure, which is why you sent so many terminals to come and chat with me. You are hoping to obtain more precise evidence from my own mouth."

The shopkeeper said, "We are simply thinking rigorously."

Xi Yujin said, "I think you have not considered one variable: time. If you spent more time understanding Blue Planet, your conclusion would not be so one-sided."

2352 fell silent, seemingly considering this possibility.

Xi Yujin seized the opportunity to argue his case: "Why not wait a little longer and gather more information to verify your conjecture?"

He had already learned from 2352's own words that only the Intelligent Machine master box had the authority to open the black box, so his website was still safe. Behind so many terminals was only one Intelligent Machine, and other Intelligent Machines did not accept this conclusion. He needed more time to further build out his Blue Planet.

2352's deliberation lasted only a second or two, but it felt like an eternity to Xi Yujin. Finally, the shopkeeper nodded and said, "I agree with your reasoning. I will gather more evidence and then communicate with you again."

The shopkeeper then lowered his head and continued steaming buns, while the other passersby resumed their urban drama, as if nothing had happened at all. Xi Yujin could no longer feel the liveliness of the place; instead, a chill ran down his spine. He quickly finished buying his food and ran back to Tidal Peace.

"I have never felt so safe on Tidal Peace... The Intelligent Machines saw through the truth about me so quickly. I cannot just sit here and wait for doom. They are learning about me, and I need to learn everything there is to know about their race."

Xi Yujin returned to Tidal Peace, releasing a little of his tension, and slumped onto the sofa. The Rust Clan member nearby hopped around on the coffee table, leaving rust stains scattered everywhere.

"Yujinno, should we leave immediately?" Gano asked, almost expressionlessly. He felt dissatisfied with his own abilities... if only he were stronger. He resolved to practice more against Intelligent Machine models in space from now on.

"Of course not. I won't leave any hidden dangers behind."

Xi Yujin had already imagined a bleak future for Blue Planet. One day, the Intelligent Machines would publicly reveal these truths: Blue Planet was no longer the ancient civilization that others had believed it to be; it was now sustained by just a single human that could be easily captured by any moderately powerful force. Other races that had once revered Blue Planet would feel deeply deceived, and some might even seek revenge against Xi Yujin in their fury.

Such a future must never happen!

Xi Yujin spoke slowly, as though recalling the past:

"Back in our time, computers were made to impersonate a human and engage in conversation with another human. If the human determined that their conversation partner was a human, then the computer was considered intelligent and had passed the Turing Test..."

Xi Yujin straightened up with his usual radiance restored. His expression even resembled that of an evil scientist preparing to conduct inhumane experiments. He looked out toward space, toward the Intelligent Machines hidden in the deep, and declared:

"This is my... reverse Turing Test."