"Darling, why are you running around inside the ship?"

An alien stopped its eight legs and replied, "I'm farming steps. There's this game called Seed Odyssey, and I need step counts to unlock the next type of seed."

"A game? Farming steps?" Its partner curled up a leg in confusion. "Sounds… kind of boring. But since you like it so much, I'll give it a try too."

It quickly downloaded Seed Odyssey and discovered that players could customize their avatar. Without hesitation, it chose a multi-armed species. After all, it already had many legs in real life, and it had never experienced having many arms before. Even though it already knew the starship belt had excellent internet speeds, the smoothness of the download still surprised it.

The game explained that the player had drifted onto a barren planet, and the former owner of the planet had left behind a collection of seeds. By walking or idling, players could accumulate energy and gradually unlock the seeds.

"Oh, there's Fluffgrass? I remember that being adorable. You can even choose different soil types and decorate your garden… The gameplay may be old-fashioned, but it's classic."

The alien quickly completed the tutorial and soon received the first letter left behind by the former owner of the wasteland planet.

The previous owner had taken a job at a flower shop because of a crush, hoping proximity would help win her over.

Who would've thought their childhood friend also worked there? The two had a terrible relationship and immediately started bickering whenever they met.

The planet owner lamented that this beautiful crush experience was being ruined by that annoying person.

At this point, the alien partner's smile had practically stretched to the top of its head.

With its vast romantic experience, it could tell immediately: the planet owner and the childhood friend were obviously the real couple!

Just look at how naturally they argued, how they instinctively protected each other when a flower vase fell, and the strange bitterness they felt after being rejected by the other. And they still claimed there was nothing between them? They were clearly involved! Planet owner, stop being stubborn, you obviously care about your childhood friend the most! The moment the friend acted a little gentler, you became devastated! Just confess already and break through that paper-thin barrier!

And besides, the crush wasn't a bad person at all. They were even subtly trying to bring the two together the entire time. Every character who appeared was basically helping their ship to sail. Watching all the other characters smile knowingly at the two of them, the alien slapped all eight thighs excitedly.

"Yes! Exactly! This character is literally my self-insert in the story! They get it so well! Ahhh, someone just shove their heads together already!"

"Huh? That's it?"

Its partner felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over its head.

"How can there not be more?! I need to unlock more seeds! I need to see the sweet romance continue!"

Meanwhile, the alien who had been farming steps finished another lap, checked its wrist device, and shouted, "I've got enough steps! I can unlock the Rubra Flower now!"

"Quick, let me see!" the partner hurried over.

The newly unlocked segment was titled Argument. It told the story of a misunderstanding between the planet owner and the childhood friend that led to a fight, leaving both of them upset.

Their hearts instantly tightened.

"How is there no more again?!"

The alien prepared to continue running laps around the ship to farm steps. Fortunately, it had eight legs.

"Strange… doesn't the story feel a little disjointed?" the partner asked suspiciously. "Each part makes sense on its own, but the timelines between the two scenes don't seem connected."

The alien stopped running and reviewed the two segments. It agreed. Together, they went to the game's review section and found a lengthy guide written by a user named "Soma."

 

[

Soma: Seed Odyssey: Blue Planet's Sweet Miracle!

 -----

"As everyone knows, Blue Planet is a species with an exceptionally advanced literary culture. So how good are the high-level derivative works they create? Judging from Seed Odyssey's first-day ranking, it only placed around #200, solidly above average among derivative works, but not quite matching Blue Planet's reputation.

But does this mean Blue Planet finally showed a weakness? I don't think so. In fact, even the apparent shortcomings may have been intentional.

The gameplay of Seed Odyssey is extremely simple, almost classical: farm steps, idle for energy, grow plants, unlock story fragments. It's fair to say that the true essence of the game lies in the narrative. Yet it's not entirely lacking in gameplay, because aside from the first story segment, later fragments are unlocked randomly within a range. However, to help players follow the story, you must complete the entire first-year storyline before unlocking the second year.

This gives readers more room for imagination and a stronger desire to collect. So this happened between your antique market trip and your movie date. So that joke during your argument originated here. As I fill in the gaps of the story, I also cultivate a beautiful field of flowers. I'm not only restoring a wasteland planet, but I'm also restoring memories.

And speaking of the story, I absolutely must give it ten stars. I used to think only melodramatic twists could show emotional depth. Now I know I was wrong. With a writing that's strong enough, even tiny everyday moments can become endlessly charming! Shipping couples is pure happiness! They absolutely have to end up together! Melodrama is dead! Sweet romance rules now!

By the way, this Blue Planet author, Wenhuo, must definitely be in a sweet relationship himself. You can feel his affection for his lover through the writing. Also, if you can't unlock a certain story segment no matter what, you can synthesize seeds together.

Finally, about the classical gameplay. I think it's also part of the emotional experience. The gameplay and story are deeply connected. In this restless interstellar age, relationships between living beings have become shallow, and everything is always chasing the newest trends. Yet author Wenhuo deliberately writes warm and gentle emotions in a way that goes against modern conventions. At the same time, he uses gameplay mechanics that have long been abandoned. He's calling back to players' old memories of beautiful feelings.

In that era, emotional distance between people was short, and people had enough time to truly be together…

Therefore, I believe Seed Odyssey deserves to be called a masterpiece!"

]

 

The aliens felt instantly enlightened after reading it.

That was exactly the feeling!

So the gameplay design had been intentional all along.

What an incredible game!

The player reviews below were filled with praise as well, all confirming Soma's perspective.

"Yes, you may not trust Wenhuo, but you should trust the only currently known Blue Planet novelist who actually has a partner. What is this? Blue Planet sweet romance fiction! No melodrama! Every supporting character is a good person! You can ship the couple with complete peace of mind! I'm going to carve excerpts of this onto my spaceship engine!"

"Blue Planet people really love farming. Playing this game helped me appreciate a bit of that joy too. Look at my sea of flowers! [Screenshot]"

"This game got me off my transport disc and walking around in the mud for a while. Life somehow feels better now. Definitely recommended."

Because of the random story-unlocking system, every alien player experienced different scenes. To see the moments they wanted faster, people naturally began sharing the game with friends and family. Some joined because they'd heard of Blue Planet's reputation and were curious. Others simply trusted their friends and dove in blindly.

Of course, some players quit before even finishing the tutorial. But far more players agreed that Seed Odyssey deserved a positive review.

Its rating continued to climb.

Before long, it rose from rank #201 to #200.

The top eighty positions in the Planetary Art Exhibition were completely dominated by artists from the Starship Belt. This suddenly risen power was silently flexing its literary strength to the universe.

Over the past few days, even the most peace-loving citizens of the Starship Belt had begun to realize that they were among the most exceptional beings in the universe.

And once creatures begin to believe themselves powerful, they stop seeing the road beneath their feet.

An undercurrent of unrest quietly spread through the Starship Belt.

"Our artworks are not meant for conquest. They exist to bring peace to the entire universe."

Wengla, curator of the Starship Belt Museum and organizer of the Planetary Art Exhibition, spoke sternly to the cleaner Tula.

"You must not mock guests of the starship belt, even if they don't know how to operate advanced devices, or if they were born in war-torn environments and aren't used to the peaceful atmosphere here."

Faced with the elder's reprimand, Tula lowered its head in shame and admitted its recent mistakes.

Wengla continued, "For the next five days, you'll do volunteer labor assisting guests with their artworks. You need to cultivate your character and get rid of these vulgar tendencies."

"…Understood," Tula replied dejectedly.

It picked up the volunteer badge and slowly headed toward the actors' center.

The starship belt had a very clear production pipeline for derivative works: novelists created the text, production staff handled artistic realization, and actors performed the roles. Starship Belt novelists usually also served as production staff, so they were collectively referred to as artists.

Here, acting was more of a passion-driven profession, with actors and artists choosing each other mutually. Actors were usually the script's first readers and possessed relatively high literary comprehension.

Tula sat beside several Starship citizens and overheard their conversation.

"The alien scripts at this art exhibition are pretty low quality. Aliens don't seem to know how to write scripts: huge blocks of internal monologue and barely any scene descriptions. How are we supposed to assign camera shots?"

"Alien artists aren't nearly as professional as ours. Aliens need massive teams just to complete one derivative work. One of our artists alone can do it."

"They have terrible habits! Wasteful resource management, constant infighting. They're completely disorganized."

"No wonder all these aliens seem afraid of us… The universe is weaker than I imagined."

Tula listened to all this, and resentment inevitably stirred inside it. So many people in the Starship Belt believed aliens weren't worthy of respect. Why was Wengla the only one who couldn't see that? But it had already accepted the volunteer labor assignment, so it could only resign itself to it.

"Qianla, what are you reading so intently?"

A voice suddenly rang out.

Qianla looked up in a daze and replied, "This script is actually really good."

At the mention of a good script, the actors immediately crowded around. Tula couldn't even squeeze in.

One actor glanced at the screenplay formatting and saw that the camera directions were all perfectly standard. Since the cover only listed a single author's name, it instinctively assumed the work belonged to a Starship Belt artist. Its standards for fellow Starship artists were much higher, so it focused intensely, craning its neck to read carefully.

 

[

(Scene: rooftop of a skyscraper. Black crows take flight. Police sirens gradually approach.)

Protagonist A slowly raises a gun and aims it at Protagonist B's back.

A: "Sorry. I'm an undercover agent."

 ]

 

"Our artists can create something with emotions this intense?"

"Unbelievable… It's only a small-scale gunfight scene, yet the atmosphere feels so cold and oppressive, while the characters' emotions burn so fiercely."

"Which new-generation artist wrote this? The younger generation may be emotionally extreme, but their artistic instincts are really active."

The novelists all flipped back to the cover, only to fall silent.

On the cover was a single short line:

[

Personality Stealth

Author: Wenhuo, from Blue Planet

]

 

"So it's actually an alien artist…"

The actors even turned the pages more quietly after that.

"It's really Wenhuo?"

Tula recalled its few unpleasant interactions with Xi Yujin. Though they were brief, they'd still left an impression strong enough that Tula couldn't forget. Learning that Wenhuo had written this script somehow felt even worse than if another alien artist had done it.

"I'm definitely not going to watch…"

Before Tula could finish, another actor interrupted.

It was Qianla, the first one who had read the script. Now it looked radiant and energized as it declared clearly and enthusiastically: "I'm going to audition for this production. This will definitely become one of the unforgettable experiences of my acting career. And it was written by an alien artist too, which is incredibly rare."

"Just because he can write doesn't mean he can direct," another actor said hesitantly.

Tula immediately turned toward the speaker as if spotting a savior.

"But I've heard Blue Planet has an excellent reputation across the universe. Out of all these alien species, at last there's one whose ability truly matches its fame. I don't want to miss this chance either."

"This script is exciting. I want to talk with Wenhuo as soon as possible."

Many actors stood up and left, eager to discuss the production with Wenhuo. There was no need to fight over lead or supporting roles here. It all depended on an actor's understanding of the character. Even small roles brought the same joy.

Tula could only watch helplessly as its companions departed.

One actor turned back and said, "You don't seem interested in going? That's fine. You can complete your volunteer assignment with another alien artist."

"Who said I don't want to go?" Tula gritted its teeth and decided to join them. It wanted to see for itself what this Blue Planet Wenhuo was capable of!

A large group of Starship actors arrived on the first planet of SYE-1832.

The filming site was located on the boundary between day and night, but the temperature difference between the two sides remained extreme. The Starship people weren't as physically powerful as Gano, so they had to wear reinforced spacesuits before landing.

As they helped build the filming base, they also discussed the script with Wenhuo.

Wenhuo truly was a gentle and talented being. Every Starship person who spoke with him developed the same impression.

"And he's ridiculously good-looking too. Probably the best-looking being in the entire Starship Belt…"

One Starship citizen whispered quietly to the being beside it. Hidden behind spacesuits, it failed to realize the person next to it wasn't actually one of its own kind.

Gano stared at Xi Yujin in the distance and nodded firmly in agreement.

The filming base mainly relied on a massive protective membrane to block intense radiation. Only then did the Starship people dare switch into lighter spacesuits.

Particles of faint light drifted from the control instruments, scattering outward to form the scenes Xi Yujin had designed. Some of the particles even attached themselves to the Starship actors' heads, acting as post-production hair effects.

Xi Yujin chatted happily with the Starship actors. Since there were no issues involving huge salaries, billing order, publicity, or promotional materials, everyone was simply collaborating to create a work together.

The Starship actors possessed very high literary literacy and occasionally proposed script revisions. After discussing them together, Xi Yujin refined the script further.

"Mr. Wenhuo, you actually wrote backstories even for the supporting characters!" the actors exclaimed admiringly.

Although this was common among Starship artists, Wenhuo was an alien. Once again, he shattered their assumptions about alien creators.

"I type pretty fast," Xi Yujin answered.

"There are a lot of extras needed here. Can I participate too?" asked one actor who hadn't gotten a major role.

Xi Yujin replied positively.

Normally, Starship artists avoided using too many actors because it made set construction more difficult. But Xi Yujin approached things with an Earth-style mindset: the more extras there were, the more realistic things felt, so he agreed to everyone joining.

He noticed one Starship person staring at him continuously and asked proactively, "Do you want to participate too?"

Face-blind as always, he failed to recognize that this was Tula, whom he had already met several times.

"I-I'm only here for volunteer labor!" Tula jumped backward a step. "I'm not acting in your production."

Xi Yujin didn't care and turned back to operating the light-particle controller.

He scanned the crowd until Gano stepped out from among the Starship people. Xi Yujin immediately locked onto him and began chatting and laughing with him. Even through the space helmet, his softly swaying cherry-colored hair remained noticeable.

The faint light particles floated elegantly out of the storage chamber. These were entirely new particles since the ones used in Seed Odyssey were already sealed away.

"Light particles are a specialty unique to our Starship Belt. Creatures across the universe said that they've never seen anything like them. It's incredible."

"Mr. Wenhuo probably doesn't know how they're manufactured either, right?"

As they chatted casually, the actors watched the green particles spread across the land, gradually constructing cramped, towering buildings until an emerald-green metropolis emerged directly on the line dividing day and night.

They couldn't help but marvel: "What an unheard-of aesthetic… It feels overwhelmingly futuristic, yet cramped and oppressive at the same time. Visually alone, it already suggests enormous inequality between rich and poor."

"I'm becoming more and more excited to perform in Wenhuo's script."

The visual style of Personality Stealth adopted a cyberpunk neon-city aesthetic. Since the story itself carried the flavor of old Hong Kong crime films, and cyberpunk itself drew inspiration from Hong Kong, this high-contrast visual style suited it perfectly.

The protagonist of Personality Stealth was named Yan Guangrong.

The film opened with Yan Guangrong standing inside his cramped apartment, shouting in emotional collapse at another man:

[

"What are you doing?! Becoming some thug for Dark City? One day I'll get dragged out and executed because of you! Do you even remember who I am? I, a police officer of White City! I've spent my entire life fighting against those trash from Dark City!"

The other man, Yan Zhaohui, looked exhausted as he replied, "Just accept it. This is fate."

Yan Guangrong hurled a mirror at him, and Yan Zhaohui just dodged out of the way.

It was already noon, and the two left together for a convenience store.

Along the way, Yan Guangrong kept muttering that Yan Zhaohui would get him killed someday.

During their walk, they nearly encountered a traffic accident, passed several robberies, and heard people screaming in the distance. Everything hinted that this city was far from peaceful.

Several White City officers in uniform were putting up wanted posters. Yan Guangrong immediately dragged Yan Zhaohui into a side alley and glared at him in frustration.

This was the border zone between Dark City and White City.

Technically, it fell under White City's legal jurisdiction. But Dark City's influence had spread deep into the area, using the city as a smuggling route to distribute an addictive drug called Dreamscape into White City. White City's police were trying to destroy the smuggling network and intercept the drugs.

Yan Guangrong pulled Yan Zhaohui into the convenience store, trying to cover his face with his hand.

Passersby stared at them with confusion.

Yan Zhaohui suddenly shoved him away and snapped,

"Have you lost your mind? They can't even see me!"

In an instant, Yan Zhaohui vanished.

In the reflection of the convenience store's glass doorframe, only Yan Guangrong remained, acting strangely by himself.

That was when he remembered.

A few days earlier, he had received a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder.

He, a White City police officer, had developed another personality who had somehow become the subordinate of a Dark City crime boss.

As for how it happened, he had absolutely no memory of it.

Carrying a plastic bag filled with instant food, Yan Guangrong pulled his cap low and hurried home.

From the shadows, several people wearing sunglasses watched him from the apartment building across the street.

]

 

To create film-type derivative works, creators first filmed a light-particle version and then simulated various special effects afterward. That was why the Starship actors had hair during filming. Different visual spectrums were also added later so that different species could watch comfortably.

After successfully uploading Personality Stealth, Xi Yujin stretched his body and headed back with Gano to the planet where Seed Odyssey was based. They needed to return there from time to time.

Besides the enormous crater, a tiny green crack had appeared.

Plants inside it survived stubbornly with tiny flower buds beginning to bloom.

This would become the first life to settle permanently on the planet.

Xi Yujin removed his spacesuit, revealing his arms as they began to glow.

He would also provide sunlight to the plants today!