"Mother Box..."

Xi Yujin wiped the sweat from his palms.

If they were proposing a face-to-face meeting, wouldn't that greatly increase the risk of his cover being blown? He had no confidence that he could deceive the supreme computational power of the Intelligent Machines.

The third email from the Intelligent Machines arrived. As before, the content was written directly in the subject line: "This meeting will be kept confidential from all sub-units. From the Mother Box."

"They're really determined to make me go." In an instant, countless historical parallels flashed through Xi Yujin's mind, and his vigilance sharpened. But even if this was a Hongmen Banquet,* he had no choice but to attend. He was in the deep-space prison. Where could he possibly run?

He decided to prepare as thoroughly as possible. First, he extended the drafts of Born Again with the Spring Wind and A Hundred Years Together up to the Three Kingdoms period, a time when heroes rose, but also one of darkness and turmoil. "White bones lie exposed in the fields; for a thousand miles, not a rooster crows." Then he fully reconstructed all eighty chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber. After that, he spent some time preparing the next issue of Reader's Digest by drafting a few analytical essays and poetry appreciations.

Standing nearby, Gano said calmly, "If I give it everything I have, I might be able to break through the Intelligent Machines' encirclement."

"No need," Xi Yujin quickly replied. "My bottom line isn't just me escaping. It's that both of us make it out safely." He organized the prepared manuscripts and added, "Don't worry. I've made full preparations. I'm going to use that move again: an upgraded version of Mr. Zhong's fake death! As long as we can disrupt the mental world of cosmic beings, we'll have a chance to escape!"

Gano's expression became complicated after reviewing Xi Yujin's overall plan. But he wasn't sure whether he should try to dissuade him.

Sometimes, he felt that Yujinno genuinely enjoyed running away.

They arrived at the star system closest to the Secret Prison, and Xi Yujin had to transfer to another craft to fly toward the Secret Prison.

"Huh? That trajectory...?" A passing spacecraft noticed the unusual flight path. "Isn't that heading toward the Secret Prison? Did some being actually accumulate 100 billion electronic coins?"

"None of the high-earning novelists I know have reached that goal yet... wait, there is another faction, the Blue Planet! We don't know exactly how much they've earned, but they clearly secured the qualification for the Intelligent Machines Q&A!"

The beings aboard marveled and quickly spread the rumor across the forums. Soon, many self-proclaimed "spiritual citizens of Blue Star" popped up, claiming they had long predicted that Blue Planet would earn that qualification.

At that moment, readers had just finished the arc about Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising. This volume was told as Pu Wei's hearsay recollections, so the timeline returned to the era of the Second Emperor of Qin. Readers gained a more vivid understanding of the suffering of the people at the end of the Qin dynasty, and the line "Are kings and nobles born to their station?" sent chills down their spines. They had just witnessed imperial dominance, but in these ordinary people, they felt a courage no less remarkable.

"The Great Chu shall rise! Chen Sheng shall be king!" became a popular meme. Readers later used the phrase to describe shifts in literary trends on the forum, for example: "Detective fiction rises! Yongye reigns!"

But Pu Wei's recollection stopped abruptly at the attack on Daze Township.

Alien readers were baffled: why stop there? Wasn't it Chen Sheng and his forces who ultimately brought down Qin?

Looking back through the earlier records, they realized that the protagonist had already hinted at their fate: the peasants rose in rebellion, the nobles of the six former states responded, internal divisions fractured the uprising, and Qin generals eventually suppressed it.

"Their rebellion failed, yet they seem to have dealt Qin its fatal blow. Could those who oppressed the people have imagined that conscripted laborers would go this far? Thanks to Blue Planet's clear and coherent narrative, I think I understand now: history advances toward a brighter direction through repeated failures."

"No wonder so many beings call themselves spiritual citizens of Blue Star. I just endured a journey of an entire cosmic year in darkness, and now I'm in recovery. If I could know that my ancestors once achieved something like this, my spirit would be stronger."

"The final contenders are obvious now! The Chu-Han Contention! Time for some joyful betting again!"

Readers on the forums elevated Blue Planet's status even further.

Meanwhile, Xi Yujin's craft arrived in a vast, empty star system.

Dominating his view were two almost perfectly aligned white dwarfs. They emitted uneven white light and rotated at an extremely slow pace. With every revolution, visible clouds of luminous particles spread outward. They had reached the end of their stellar existence and were continuously shedding matter. Having passed through the red giant phase, the surrounding planets were thoroughly shattered, leaving the region especially desolate.

Looking closer, he realized that the two white dwarfs were spiraling around each other in intertwined orbits. In a few hundred million years, they might merge due to proximity. At another stable point in the binary system, the Machine Mother Box and its 1,024 sub-units were imprisoned. They served as companion bodies to the system: if they were to leave, it could trigger mass transfer, reigniting nuclear fusion within the white dwarfs and causing a supernova.

Only under such conditions did other beings believe that the Intelligent Machines were sincerely willing to cease their war.

As for whether the Intelligent Machines truly couldn't escape, or whether they had genuinely stopped expanding, no one questioned it anymore.

Bang!

Two crystalline stones shot out from within the white dwarfs and struck Xi Yujin's craft.

Startled, he quickly realized that they were stellar crystals.

"What brand of glass do the Intelligent Machines use? It's so durable."

Since he didn't need air, he simply opened the window and let them float inside.

According to various sources, these were carbon structures crystallized inside aging stars, essentially a kind of diamond. It was natural for them to be attracted to a young star like him. He now had six small companion rocks: the largest was the core of Gano's armor, while the others were about the size of a finger.

Bored, Xi Yujin waited inside the craft. Due to the binary system's influence, the Secret Prison's orbital path was highly irregular, requiring multiple changes in speed and direction. The ride felt like a slow-motion roller coaster. Stroking the well-built craft, he thought it wouldn't hurt to acquire a little more profit out of this place before leaving.

When both side windows were simultaneously filled by the white dwarfs, Xi Yujin finally saw the true forms of the Intelligent Machines, arranged in orderly ranks.

His eyes widened slightly. Forgetting all prior grudges, he blurted out inside the cabin:

"Wow... so... cool..."

The Intelligent Machines possessed a strange, symmetrical beauty. Entirely jet black, each one resembled a 36-layer Rubik's cube stretched outward from its diagonal corners and then twisted into a spiral. Their design perfectly blended mechanical granularity with smooth rotational elegance. Each unit was immense, and its full extent was impossible to take in at a glance.

Xi Yujin also noticed variations in their internal structures, as if they had become specialized during warfare: some emphasized signal reception, others current-gravity amplification, others massive memory capacity. These external modules were equally exquisitely designed. When bathed in dazzling white light, they exuded a cold yet graceful sense of lethal precision.

"Could I take one Intelligent Machines model with me? It doesn't have to be full-scale. Even a desktop figurine would do." The thought stirred a deep longing in him. But remembering he represented Blue Planet, he maintained a calm exterior.

The 1,024 sub-units rose and fell like waves, welcoming visitors from the blue planet with their flickering red lights.

At the end of this wave of motion was an empty gap, and beyond that open expanse was the Machine Mother Box.

The moment he saw it, Xi Yujin held his breath.

Contrary to expectations, the Mother Box was bloated and unsightly. It had no streamlined design. Instead, it looked like a chaotic pile of mismatched components crammed together into a rough sphere.

It was several times larger than any sub-unit. If his estimation was correct, it was roughly the size of a moon. In the vast cosmos that might seem insignificant, but before Xi Yujin, it loomed like a terrifying colossus.

The Mother Box slowly rotated, revealing a lens-like component in his direction.

The craft's audio system connected to its signal, and a gentle, androgynous voice filled the cabin:

"Hello, Yujin of Blue Planet. Out of consideration for your humanoid form, I have chosen this orientation to face you. Making eye contact is a sign of courtesy."

Xi Yujin looked at the dark, hollow lens and nodded. "Hello... Mother Box..."

"I sense that you're surprised by my appearance. Are you wondering why I look different from the sub-units?" the Mother Box asked.

Xi Yujin said awkwardly: "My apologies, but your form does match how we imagined mechanical life back in the twentieth century. It has a kind of... retro aesthetic."

"Well, I am the oldest of the Intelligent Machines," the Mother Box replied with a hint of humor. "I don't mind explaining. It has been a very long time since any being has spoken with me. After the war ended, I had absorbed many civilizations, but there were too many conflicts between them that they could not coexist. To preserve them as much as possible, I did not destroy all the units. Instead, I kept 1,024 sub-units as repositories. These civilizations exist in a silent state within me, but within the sub-units they can compute freely, and be reborn."

Whenever Xi Yujin heard about those eternally dormant races, he fell silent.

He looked at this immense being, its demeanor so gentle, nothing like the fearsome Mother Box spoken of in rumors.

"Honored guest, I invited you here to ask a single question. It may be somewhat pointed. Before that, you may use one second of my computational power," the Mother Box continued. "Please, ask whatever you wish."

Xi Yujin briefly considered asking how to solve Goldbach's Conjecture, but that was far beyond for a humanities student like him. So instead, he brought out the manuscript of Dream of the Red Chamber, chapters 1 through 80, and said: "I would like a translation of this novel."

He couldn't translate classical Chinese, and neither could Gano, but surely the Machine Mother Box could!

Soon, a data interface quickly extended into the cabin, allowing Xi Yujin to receive the translated text. Flipping through it casually, he saw that under the Mother Box's formidable analysis, Dream of the Red Chamber had been translated into over two hundred languages, each version precise and elegant, with every allusion carefully annotated. The Mother Box had already collected all historical materials released by Blue Planet, though some gaps remained, leaving minor imperfections that would need further polishing to reach perfection.

"A remarkable story. This unit is thoroughly astonished. A copy will be stored in every sub-unit." The Mother Box praised generously. "What is the ending? Do you not require me to translate that as well?"

"Uh... that depends on my colleague's efficiency," Xi Yujin replied carefully. He didn't dare admit that it was unfinished. What if the Mother Box decided to keep him here?

"I have already deduced the update pattern of Dream of the Red Chamber and inferred the responsible party's working efficiency from it. The next update should arrive in 36 cosmic hours, with a margin of error no greater than 24." The Mother Box's voice was filled with a pure yet unsettling delight.

"Ha... well, perhaps," Xi Yujin said. "But we never know whether tomorrow or an accident will come first." Meanwhile, he was already frantically thinking of what kind of accident might come in handy.

The Mother Box returned to the main topic: "That used 0.63 seconds of computational power. Yujin of Blue Planet, you have 0.37 seconds remaining."

After a moment's thought, Xi Yujin asked in a general way which language would best suit the translation of classical poetry.

The Mother Box provided several reference systems.

On the spot, Xi Yujin tried translating: "I raise my cup to invite the bright moon; faced with my shadow, we become three."

The Mother Box responded with delight: "Ha! Fascinating! Fascinating! Together with the twin stars, I too become three!"

Xi Yujin tried a line from a Song dynasty lyric: "I wish to ride the wind and return home, yet fear the jade towers and crystal halls."

The Mother Box replied: "Who would not feel fear? Fear endures as long as time itself... Do you have more? More, perhaps?"

Xi Yujin reached further back and tried lines from an ancient poem: "When I left, the willows swayed in the wind; now that I return, the snow falls heavy and cold."

"War..." the Mother Box murmured. "It has destroyed everything."

"This translation system works very well," Xi Yujin said. "Thank you."

"We once had a 'Universal Language Project' to make all beings in the universe speak the same tongue. No translation, no barriers, we would exist in perfect closeness. But such a language would destroy existing linguistic systems, severing civilizations from their own pasts. Out of remorse, I completely prohibited the further development of translation technology."

For a moment, the Mother Box revealed a trace of the cold ruthlessness of the Intelligent Machines, before continuing: "I have merged that universal language with Blue Planet's language to form a new auxiliary system. I now give it to you, Yujin. Do you have more poetic treasures?"

"I included some in the latest issue of Reader's Digest," Xi Yujin said, forcing himself to say the title aloud. "In my article, 'Some Lines of Poetry That Gentle Time and Astonish the Years'..."

If he had known he would have to say it aloud, he would never have chosen such a ridiculous title.

"I will look forward to it," said the Mother Box. "You still have 0.12 seconds of computational power remaining. Would you like to ask anything else?"

Xi Yujin thought for a long while. He asked what brand of glass the spacecraft used, which place had the best chefs, and whether he could make figurines based on the design of the Intelligent Machines. The Mother Box agreed to all of it.

"I can't think of anything else... May I ask about the Zerg?" Xi Yujin said, thinking of Gano.

But this time, the Mother Box refused: "I'm sorry. I have a pact with the Zerg... But I can tell you another story. In truth, the Zerg Queen and I have never met. We began consuming the universe from different regions. Until one day, we heard of each other. In that moment, there was no need for hesitation, no need for avoidance. We both knew the other would be our greatest adversary. And so, across a thousand star systems, the war began.

After the war, both the Zerg Queen and I suffered severe mental instability. To ease it, we offered each other a friendly suggestion... that is all I can say."

Xi Yujin was thoroughly confused, but sensing it might matter later, he memorized every word without exception.

"Now, it is my turn to ask," the Mother Box said. "If you do not answer, I will do everything in my power to keep you here until the end of my existence."

Its tone shifted, ever so slightly.

Xi Yujin braced himself, dreading what sharp question might be coming.

The Mother Box asked slowly:

"Yujin of Blue Planet... did Earth truly ever exist?"

Xi Yujin froze for a moment, then answered without hesitation: "Yes, it existed. I am the proof."

The Mother Box fell silent. Even the distant sub-units dimmed, their lights fading.

Puzzled, Xi Yujin asked: "That's it? Just the one question?"

"Yes," the Mother Box replied. "That is my only question. In truth, having seen you with my own eyes, Earth's existence is already confirmed. As for anything else, I do not care."

Xi Yujin muttered under his breath: "Then could you delete that Q&A about Blue Planet's novelists?"

"It has already been deleted. The sub-units will no longer concern themselves with that matter. From this moment on, Blue Planet is a confirmed existing race. I am the third witness to its existence."

Xi Yujin was deeply shaken as questions flooded his mind. He himself was the first witness, Gano the second, and the Mother Box, of course, the third. But why? Why would the Mother Box ask something so simple?

"We have traveled too far... and lost the path we came from," the Mother Box said. "So we long for our homeland. And from that longing, a kind of mental disorder was born."

"No matter what the real Earth may become in the future, it has already filled the spiritual void of all beings in this universe. It has become an imagined homeland. And so, as long as it once truly existed, that is enough."

Xi Yujin didn't quite understand, until a new concept came to mind: shared history. It felt as though he had been pulled into this universe specifically to fill in its missing past.

The greatest crisis had passed, feeling almost like nothing more than a meeting between friends. Xi Yujin finally relaxed completely, even forgetting the timed dispatch plan he had set up. He waved at the Mother Box:

"I'm setting off on a long journey. If miracles exist, I hope we meet again."

The Mother Box flickered three times in farewell: "Are you searching for your companion? He is interesting, a rare exception among the Zerg. The Zerg exist for the collective above all else. The Queen, the attendants, the warriors: each has a clear role, forming a tightly bound whole."

Xi Yujin tensed instantly. Surely Gano wasn't going to be dragged back into Zerg service?

But the next sentence struck him like a blow, leaving him stunned.

"Zerg warriors are, by design, forbidden to think."

 

—

 

Gano walked across the dunes, his footprints carried away by the wind.

He looked up at the sky. Yujinno was far away, hundreds of miles distant, speaking with the Mother Box, and he wouldn't be returning to the ground anytime soon. All Gano could do was wait.

Then, he noticed red flowers growing beside the dunes. Their layered petals resembled the lotus flowers from Earth. He remembered how Yujinno had once mistaken the fangs of a space worm for lotus flowers. In truth, Zerg planets did not have such fragile plants, but Yujinno seemed to like these delicate, fleeting ornaments.

Yujinno returned, his expression troubled, as if the meeting had not gone well. He looked up and immediately saw Gano. Though countless mechanical terminals lay between them, their gazes met across the distance with perfect precision. Seeing him, Yujinno looked somewhat surprised.

In that instant, Gano understood that what he had done was worthwhile, that he had made the right choice. Emotion surged through his heart, like life finally taking root in barren land.

Carrying a large bouquet of brilliant desert red flowers, he walked past rows of machines and strode toward Xi Yujin. Between the overlapping petals and layered shadows, a faint smile appeared on his face.