Xi Yujin received a flood of information about alien plants. Originally, he only wanted to learn some botanical knowledge, but unexpectedly, the starship belt actually maintained a substantial seed reserve. He was even allowed to apply for a small amount for personal use.

They passed through long corridors, around food cultivation zones and childcare facilities, before finally arriving at a refrigerated storage room. Comparing the inventory against the data in his hands, Xi Yujin selected several hundred seeds.

The staff explained that although their reserves were plentiful, Xi Yujin was still an outsider, so once he harvested crops, he would need to return a portion of the seeds. Xi Yujin agreed.

Together, he and Gano returned to SYE-1832 carrying a box-shaped operating device provided by the starship belt, along with several tools from Tidal Peace.

Using scanners, they searched for suitable soil, ground containing appropriate amounts of phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium, and planted the qualifying seeds one by one.

Xi Yujin chose a crack within a crater. The spot received little sunlight, and the winds were much gentler there. But he was worried that the seeds might fail to sprout without enough light, so he secretly used himself to sunbathe them a little.

"What kind of work does Yujinno want to create?" Gano asked, pulling the device closer.

"I've decided to make a farming game," Xi Yujin said excitedly, sharing his inspiration. "The setting is a world with severe pollution, where the protagonist can only purify the environment through plants… They obtain a batch of seeds, but the plants can only grow if the player powers a walking device."

In short, it was basically a pedometer-based idle farming game.

For now, Xi Yujin had no idea whether aliens would enjoy such a thing, but he personally found it incredibly fun.

"We need to gather footage now."

Xi Yujin opened the large starship equipment box.

A thin membrane-like interface panel sat on top, while numerous jars of glowing particles were stored below. Beside the membrane was a neural connector capable of forming a simple brain-machine interface with the user, allowing imagery to be released more intuitively.

When the user painted on the membrane, the glowing particles would fly out in response, generating various visual effects across the planet. Combined with a multispectrum camera, these effects could then be recorded into multispectrum video footage.

Xi Yujin stared helplessly at the neural connector.

His true form was a star. How exactly was he supposed to plug into this thing?

This device was seriously unfriendly toward beings without nerves.

At that moment, the ever-dependable Gano appeared.

He took the neural connector and felt an inexplicable sense of distaste toward it. Holding it between his fingertips, he sensed tiny electric currents running through it, and suddenly his insect wings began itching again.

No. This was definitely not an appropriate setting for exposing insect wings.

Gano lowered his eyes.

The longer he stayed in this star system, the more the strange warmth accumulated inside him. He didn't know why, but being closer to Yujinno seemed to make it better.

Still hazily sorting through his feelings, Gano moved closer to Xi Yujin. Remembering that they were already dating, he boldly reached out and held his hand.

Microscopic particles spread from the box across the land, following Gano's thoughts and forming pair after pair of tiny insect wings like glowing butterflies.

Xi Yujin looked down at their joined hands, then stepped closer to Gano.

Leaning near him, he said, "I just got another idea. This game should include more story content. Every time players successfully purify a piece of land, they unlock a story."

"A love story…"

Ever since they started dating, he had so many restless emotions with nowhere to vent them.

He wanted to write an aching, deeply romantic love story.

"Hahaha, Blue Planet's Yujin opened a brand-new alias just to dodge the writing ban. Novelists really will go to absurd lengths just to keep writing," one alien remarked to a companion. "Even though Mr. Yujin is highly respected, his personality is surprisingly approachable."

"Huh? Who's Yujin?" the companion asked. "I only recently started learning about Blue Planet. Their novels are really good, but the things written by this Yujin person seem pretty average, don't they? There are only a few decent pieces in Reader's Digest. Besides having lots of connections, what famous works does he even have?"

The alien paused.

Instinctively, it felt that if so many top-tier Blue Planet novelists respected Yujin, then his ability must be extraordinary.

But when asked to name one of Yujin's representative works, it found itself speechless.

"He's definitely excellent as an editor. It makes sense that novelists admire him. But as a novelist…" It searched for information. "Ah, Flying Over the Pyramid was written by him. Let's check it out together."

The alien clicked download so they wouldn't have to deal with network lag while reading online.

Yet the progress bar barely moved, endlessly circling around one percent.

"The signal's not very good…" the alien said awkwardly. "We're probably too far away from the source."

Signals throughout the universe were fragmented and inconsistent, so information didn't travel smoothly. For Blue Planet literature to truly spread across the cosmos, it would require spans of time long enough to alter stars themselves.

Under those circumstances, the companion grew suspicious.

"So what exactly is Yujin famous for writing?"

The alien hurriedly replied,

"We can check out his advanced derivative works! Listening to other readers' evaluations should tell us enough."

The companion continued reading announcements on Blue Planet's official site and asked another question:

"What exactly is this Starship Belt?"

"Good question. You've hit my knowledge blind spot," the alien shrugged. "I've literally never heard of the Starship Belt."

So they searched the Black Box Network extensively.

There was plenty of information on starships, but absolutely nothing on the Starship Belt.

Then suddenly, the Black Box Network began lagging.

At first, the alien assumed its optical computer was malfunctioning. It rebooted several times, only to discover the issue remained. Worse still, countless netizens online were all saying the same thing:

Strange. The Black Box Network was actually lagging.

"I connected to another signal!" the alien shouted.

"A signal that isn't from Black Box!"

The alien couldn't understand the text displayed there and immediately panicked. Companions shouted all around the spacecraft, and an inexplicable tension filled the air.

Several dozen minutes later, translated messages from the unknown signal source finally began appearing on their devices.

"Esteemed artistic beings of the universe, before I announce the opening of this art exhibition, please allow me to introduce ourselves.

We are the Free Capital of Art, the Circum-Space Starship Belt.

There is no need for alarm. Our signal strength greatly surpasses Black Box's. Any being currently receiving this transmission lies within the range of three non-deviated wormhole jumps."

"Three wormhole jumps?!" the alien cried out. "That's impossible!"

Yet impossible or not, reality stood directly before them.

The aliens receiving the message stared at one another in fear, trembling at this sudden unknown development.

"Our universe hasn't experienced a major technological explosion in a very long time. The last one was during the war era."

"War? I've never experienced that! I never imagined technological progress could make me afraid."

"In the universe, the unknown is the most terrifying thing."

"Blue Planet's Yujin seems to be aboard the Starship Belt…"

At the mention of that final piece of information, the aliens suddenly calmed down a little.

Perhaps seeing one familiar figure within a completely unfamiliar force naturally brought reassurance.

Messages from the starship belt continued spreading outward.

More and more beings forwarded the information beyond the range of three wormhole jumps, rippling outward like waves.

"Friends of the cosmos, my name is Wengla, curator of the Starship Belt Museum.

We once voyaged across ruins. At last, we are able to dock upon peaceful shores.

To demonstrate our ideals of peace, we are holding this joint planetary art exhibition.

Please follow the instructions below to access our exhibition and enjoy our peaceful works of art.

Remember: Everything is for peace!"

"This is getting more ridiculous by the minute," one alien muttered nervously to a companion.

"Instant downloads for advanced textual derivatives? What a joke."

Ever since the wars ended, civilizations have rapidly converged toward the same technological level. For many aliens, this was the first time they had truly witnessed technological advancement again, and it felt deeply unsettling.

Though they verbally dismissed it as absurd, they honestly followed the instructions and connected to the new network anyway.

"It's my first time not using Black Box… Why is the entire interface green?"

The alien sighed in relief.

"Maybe their technology still has flaws…"

"No, switch spectral lenses," the companion said stiffly, changing to another wavelength filter. "The terrifying part of this technology is that every species sees the interface in full color according to their own visual spectrum!"

"My god! The download speeds are insane! One derivative finishes downloading in seconds!"

"So many advanced derivatives! Since I started traveling, I've only ever bought three derivatives total. The rest of the time I just killed time reading novels!"

"The Starship Belt is terrifying!"

Filled with unease, they reluctantly opened the exhibition works.

If they were going to die, they at least wanted to understand what killed them.

Movies, television dramas, and games were all categorized under the same media classification here.

One alien opened Light-Year Deadly Food Romance and gasped repeatedly at how smooth the viewing experience was. Then it opened a game called How to Rapidly Destroy Circuitry and found the controls astonishingly fluid and responsive.

And this was while the ship was currently in high-speed transit and was nowhere near a major star system.

Gradually, the aliens lost themselves among the dazzling exhibition interface.

"So fun…"

"I'm getting addicted. Just earlier, I was arguing with my companion about whether we should flee immediately, and now I just want to queue into multiplayer with them."

"This… this is the peace brought by art!"

Hundreds of millions of user signals surged simultaneously toward the Starship Belt, triggering an explosive wave of public discussion.

"Did the Intelligent Machines say anything? A technology even more terrifying than Black Box has appeared!"

"The Intelligent Machines haven't said a word."

"Quick! Contact our species' diplomats and wormhole-jump there immediately! What? Messages can't be received aboard the flagship vessel? Then I'll have to go personally. Fleet, follow me!"

"We absolutely must establish contact with the Starship Belt! The survival of our species may depend on this moment!"

At the distant edges of the universe, a giant made of living stone heard the eighteenth-hand retelling of the news from a ground-dwelling species.

"A technology with a signal range greater than Black Box?"

Dazi showed no emotional reaction whatsoever and continued concentrating on drawing the blueprint for a new underground palace.

The younger Flash Clan members around it blinked their shining eyes expectantly, hoping it would say more.

With no choice, Dazi continued:

"You all should study history more seriously. This kind of technology existed long ago already.

According to the records engraved on our ancestors' stones, the voices of the Zerg always traveled extremely far.

Because they needed to call to their companions…"

Dazi paused mid-motion, and its tone suddenly turned sorrowful.

"Our little crystal hatchling… wasn't there a Zerg beside him? He's so tiny. How could he possibly beat a Zerg?"

The Flash Clan members nearby immediately knew Dazi was bringing up old topics again and said helplessly:

"Yujin already said that he's not part of the Flash Clan. Besides, those two are obviously made for each other. I heard they're ridiculously lovey-dovey."

"Ahhh! How can they start dating so young?!"

-----

Starship Belt

A many-eyed alien named Soma boarded the station.

The barnacle-like exterior of the starship alone made its legs tremble. After witnessing the ship's abundant resource systems and the philosophical idea that people mattered more than machinery, Soma felt as though it had been crushed dimensionally.

"No wasting food!"

Tula grumbled angrily while wiping tables.

Knowing that occupations aboard the starship belt carried no social hierarchy, Soma hurriedly apologized in a lowered voice.

"That's more like it…" Tula muttered while gliding away atop its transportation disk. "Alien species are fundamentally inferior to us. Even interacting with them is a waste."

Soma nervously finished dinner, glanced around repeatedly, then hid in a park to report back to its species.

Its first question was: "Any news from the Intelligent Machines? The starship belt's signal can even reach the Deep Space Prison."

"The Intelligent Machines haven't reacted at all," its companion replied. "After receiving our information, they only said they were aware and could provide signal-blocking services! Do you think this maybe isn't related to the Zerg at all? The Intelligent Machines are way too calm. This doesn't look like the legendary endless blood feud at all… Did you discover anything over there?"

Soma muttered something quietly.

"What? Louder! Is the signal bad again?" the companion shouted.

"I mean… um…" Soma inhaled deeply. "The games here are unbelievably fun. Like, galaxy-tier fun!"

Its companion's eyebrows shot upward.

"Listen to me first," Soma said hurriedly. "I was enjoying myself in the line of duty! I originally just wanted to investigate the quality of their derivative works, but after finishing one, I wanted to see another, then another after that, and before I knew it, an entire day was gone."

Its companion suppressed visible anger.

Soma frantically searched for additional useful intelligence.

"Many advanced civilizations have already arrived here: the Twin-Faced Race, the Lemon Race, and Blue Planet too. Though I haven't actually seen Blue Planet's representatives. I only heard about them. I also haven't played any Blue Planet works yet."

At last, its companion's furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

"At least you're somewhat useful. Continue gathering intelligence."

After giving a few more warnings, the companion disconnected.

Soma immediately went limp and collapsed onto a bench.

A gardener emerged from the forested area nearby, causing Soma to instantly sit upright again and praise the gardener enthusiastically.

"Your flowers smell wonderful!"

Only after the gardener left did Soma drag itself heavily toward the cafeteria and order a standard meal set.

Inside the dining hall, it spotted the new friend it had recently met.

Its heart instantly warmed as though seeing family.

Carrying its tray, it hurried over.

"Hi, Wenhuo! What luck running into you!"

"I'm lucky too," Xi Yujin replied. Gano sat beside him.

Hearing Xi Yujin's gentle tone almost moved Soma to tears.

It was merely an intern diplomat who, for reasons unknown, had suddenly been shoved into active duty. The official diplomats aboard the flagship vessel couldn't receive transmissions from here, and their homeworld was too far away.

So only Soma had been temporarily assigned the position.

And if anything went wrong, it would naturally become the scapegoat.

What a miserable intern!

"Wenhuo, your meals always seem slightly larger than standard portions," Soma remarked casually while stuffing food into its mouth.

"Because I believe labor is glorious," Xi Yujin replied sincerely. He genuinely thought that was the reason.

Life aboard the starship belt resembled certain concepts he had once studied in textbooks. He felt spiritually bathed in red ideological glory and therefore treated all Starship People with exceptional friendliness and upright sincerity.

Only Gano knew the real reason.

Xi Yujin had changed his hair color and applied mineral pigments, concealing much of his stellar radiance. Yet his appearance still perfectly matched the beauty standards of certain species.

For example, the Zerg is represented by Gano.

And the Starship People here.

As a result, Xi Yujin constantly received tiny bits of preferential treatment, like little gifts.

Gano had initially been somewhat displeased.

But after realizing that every being aboard this station combined still couldn't defeat him, his mood improved immediately.

Sure enough, beautiful love required overwhelming combat power.

All that training during the filming of Seed Odyssey had not been wasted!

Gano took a huge bite of meat.

"Oh right, did you hear the Blue Planet's game that launched today?" Xi Yujin asked Soma expectantly. "It's called Seed Odyssey."

Soma swallowed all its food before speaking unclearly: "Really? Then I know now. I'll try it later."

Xi Yujin looked hopeful.

Soma was the first true derivative-work enthusiast he had ever met. Surely it would provide valuable feedback.

After finishing a second meal set, Soma continued: "Blue Planet… Wenhuo, do you know the diplomat Yujin from Blue Planet? I seriously hate him. My mentor constantly tells me to study him, how he negotiated with other races aboard the flagship vessel, and how cleverly he built ties with the Intelligent Machines. Fine, maybe he's good at his job, but why does everyone expect me to be just as good? In the end, all diplomatic tricks are meaningless. Strength is the only truth."

Xi Yujin smiled politely.

"Let's not talk about that. Let's play Blue Planet's game instead." Soma switched optical devices. "Seed Odyssey. Funny coincidence, the creator is also named Wenhuo, haha."

A while later, Soma completely stopped moving.

"It's not fun," it told Xi Yujin. "The gameplay is too old-fashioned."

"Old-fashioned?" Xi Yujin repeated.

"Idle mechanics, step-count systems, they're all outdated gameplay styles. There's nothing innovative about them." Soma belched. "What's popular now are multidimensional experiences and immersive environmental interaction."

"I see…" Xi Yujin fell into thought.

"This time, Blue Planet's probably going to fail hard," Soma whispered confidentially. "This game will probably rank near the bottom of the exhibition. Though Blue Planet has a decent fanbase, so maybe around rank two hundred."

Soma truly understood derivative works, and Xi Yujin trusted its judgment.

He couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed.

It was the first derivative work he had sincerely devoted effort toward, yet it had failed.

But this disappointment also ignited his competitive spirit.

He had to preserve Blue Planet's honor.

"At minimum, the next derivative should make it to the top fifty. No… top ten," Xi Yujin declared to himself.

"What did you say?" Soma asked.

"I said, I hope you'll look forward to Blue Planet's next derivative work."

Xi Yujin waved goodbye while holding Gano's hand.

Soma grinned foolishly as it waved back.

The pair soon arrived at the port and boarded an aircraft bound for SYE-1832.

The harbor was crowded with ambitious beings from all over the universe, all hoping to accomplish something significant here.

Participating in competitions across different star systems was also a method of increasing one's species-wide reputation. In many ways, this Planetary Art Exhibition resembled the Fisherman Cup.

No one recognized the disguised Xi Yujin.

The two quietly departed aboard the aircraft.

During the journey, Gano suddenly asked apologetically, "Was it because of me…?"

"What?" Xi Yujin replied.

Then he remembered what had happened on the second planet.

At the time, the starship belt's ultra-frequency broadcast suddenly activated while Xi Yujin was farming with muddy legs. Gano abruptly flew upward, summoned his armor, and blasted a massive crack into the crater.

Xi Yujin had stood there frozen, still holding a watering can.

Then Gano, visibly distressed, removed his armor and hugged him tightly.

And then they accidentally crushed a seedling.

Poor little seedling.

"No matter how you look at it, this Starship Belt is connected to the Zerg somehow," Xi Yujin comforted him. "We'll uncover the truth together."

Now, besides protecting Blue Planet's honor, they also needed to investigate the relationship between the Starship Belt and the Zergs.

Xi Yujin genuinely needed to carefully plan his next derivative work.

"I'm honestly not good at interstellar games. Players care too much about gameplay systems," Xi Yujin pondered. "Looks like I should make a film or television project instead. Visual storytelling is my real strength."

He piloted the aircraft while observing the six planets of SYE-1832.

Eventually, he stopped near the planet closest to the star.

It was tidally locked, forever facing the star with only one side. There was no sunrise or sunset, and the temperature difference between the two hemispheres was extreme.

Only within the narrow boundary between light and darkness did life have the slightest chance of survival.

"What kind of story suits an environment like this?"

A flash of inspiration seemed to pass through Xi Yujin's mind.

Back at the hotel, Soma planned to try other games and derivative works.

Suddenly, it noticed that it still hadn't deleted Seed Odyssey.

It had been right earlier, the game currently ranked only around 200th place in exhibition popularity.

But Soma suddenly remembered that it hadn't finished the beginner tasks.

Driven by compulsive completionism, it reopened the game.

The idle timer had finished counting down.

Soma unlocked the first purified region: The Rose Garden.

Along with it came a short story chapter.

At first, Soma glanced at it absentmindedly. Then it became completely absorbed.

Gradually, a delighted, auntie-like grin spread across its face. Multiple eyes narrowed blissfully as though savoring every second.

"Hehehe…"

A horrifyingly sugary laugh echoed throughout the room.

Clutching its optical device in bed, Soma struggled desperately not to roll around in excitement.

What an adorable couple!

Only when it reached the bottom and couldn't scroll further did Soma realize that this short story…

was serialized.