Volume 3: Deep Blue Sea
Because of the addition of two blue butterflies, life seems to have gained a bit more joy. Whether staying at home or going out, the butterflies can follow along, even hiding their presence when not wanting to attract attention. They can also instantly transform into a pair of wings when Shu Xun wants to fly.
The two butterflies also have their own names. Perhaps due to the awakening of flight, Shu Xun’s butterfly, judging from appearances alone, is noticeably larger, and it seems to be adopting a more nurturing tendency. Shu Xun has been puzzled by this for a long time, wondering if there’s an underlying “dad” attribute in his heart, or if he desires to grow up and take care of others.
On the other hand, Ye Jian’s butterfly is a bit smaller, but that’s relative; the wings, when spread, are still slightly larger than a fist. Its personality is quite persistent, dedicated to getting close to Shu Xun, getting swatted away, and then repeating the process. Occasionally, it acts like a bullied child seeking comfort by flying back to Ye Jian.
Despite Shu Xun’s initial desire to name them Big Bliss Butterfly and Little Bliss Butterfly, Ye Jian remained silent for a long time, finding those names too casual. So, they were named: Big Bliss and Little Bliss.
Shu Xun: “…” Feeling like the naming process wasn’t exactly formal?
Most of the time, Big Bliss and Little Bliss exist in their butterfly forms. Even when they go out, they selectively hide themselves, and when completely invisible, neither Shu Xun nor Ye Jian can see each other’s butterflies, only their own. Unless Big Bliss and Little Bliss willingly let the other and the two people see them.
At home, Shu Xun, along with the two butterflies, particularly loves the small hanging chair on the coffee table. Almost every noon, Shu Xun chooses to take a nap there. Big Bliss and Little Bliss have even developed a new skill: using their antennae to cover Shu Xun with a blanket. As for who they learned this from?
Ye Jian, once again, lost a right (╰_╯)
When Shu Xun falls asleep, the two butterflies will quietly land on the frame of the hanging chair, one high and one low. They appear like two exquisite decorations. Occasionally flapping their wings, they check to ensure that Shu Xun is okay. Their meticulous care leaves Ye Jian with almost no room to intervene.
These leisurely days continued for over a week until the official release of the promotional video for “Deep Blue Sea,” once again unleashing a storm in the virtual world.
On the day the promotional video for “Deep Blue Sea” was officially released, coincidentally, the maintenance for “Winter’s End” was also completed. Countless players logged into the virtual world, preparing to enter “Winter’s End” to experience the highly challenging survival game. After the maintenance, the entry conditions for “Winter’s End” were relaxed significantly, and the degree of weakening of players’ real-life abilities was reduced. This was done to enable players to better survive in the game.
The promotional video for “Deep Blue Sea” and the opening announcement for “Winter’s End” were both prominently displayed on the homepage of the StarPlay Entertainment website. The early promotional period for “Deep Blue Sea” was noticeably shorter than that of “Winter’s End”. Initially, when it appeared in the public eye, there were no significant highlights; it was just known as another large-scale realistic survival game.
Given the rushed promotion, many people had a lack of interest, and some even believed that the hasty promotion and beta testing schedule for “Deep Blue Sea” would result in a loss of players, as the hype for “Winter’s End” was still evident. The collision of two similar games seemed to be damaging to the developers at StarPlay Entertainment. This seemingly counterproductive approach didn’t align with the typical style of StarPlay Entertainment.
However, on the day when the promotional video and beta testing announcement for “Deep Blue Sea” were officially released, the virtual world once again erupted with excitement. This was because, in the promotional images for “Deep Blue Sea,” besides the vast deep blue sea and the words “Deep Blue Sea” at the top, a few additional words appeared: “Large-scale One-Time Realistic Survival Game.”
They knew about survival games, and they were familiar with realistic survival games, but what did “one-time realistic survival game” mean? Everyone had their speculations, but it seemed unrealistic. After all, developing a game, especially one with a realistic background, required significant financial, labor, and time investments. So far, there hadn’t been any news of a game being a one-time release.
With intense curiosity, countless people clicked on the seemingly ordinary promotional video. Immediately, a clear holographic scene appeared in everyone’s field of view. Surprisingly, what first appeared was not the imagined deep blue sea but a scene on an interstellar transport warship. Through the transparent windows on both sides of the ship’s cabin, it could be seen that this was a medium-sized fleet responsible for transporting goods between major star systems.
Dozens of warships smoothly and orderly sailed through space. The warships seemed well-organized, and as people followed the promotional perspective, they gradually approached the bridge of the main warship. In the spacious bridge, the personnel was working attentively, and the timely sound of the intelligent machinery’s prompt echoed, “Approaching the Water-Blue Starfield Dwarf Galaxy, preparing to enter stealth mode to avoid disturbing life-bearing planets. Countdown initiated: 30S, 29S…”
On the screen, a conspicuous countdown was ticking. In front of the control panel, with the perspective of the audience facing away, stood a broad-shouldered man dressed in the attire of a fleet captain. His short black hair looked clean and neat. The surrounding operators were proficiently manipulating virtual keyboards.
After confirming there were no anomalies, the man dressed as the captain turned around, seemingly ready to leave. The moment he turned around, countless people almost gasped in astonishment because this person, this familiar face, was known to too many!
Di Lan Shu! The youngest general in human interstellar history, and also the highest executive in charge of military logistics transportation. Holding the rank of a general at the age of twenty, it is undoubtedly inseparable from his strong leadership and robust execution capabilities. However, more than twenty years ago, this legendary figure was declared missing, along with a medium-sized fleet that disappeared with him.
The attention of the crowd was completely absorbed by the promotional video. Clearly, for this sudden appearance, after a brief shock, everyone realized that they would probably see some never-before-released footage.
Indeed, in the holographic images of the promotional video, before Di Lan Shu could leave the cockpit, a sudden change occurred. The intelligent countdown abruptly halted, replaced by a slightly elevated warning sound: “Warning! Interference detected in stealth mode activation! Warning! Warship suspected of unknown attack! Warning! No intruders detected! Warning! Warship speed forcibly restricted…”
A series of abrupt warning sounds erupted without warning, and the final sharp warning sound quickly echoed throughout the entire warship. Subsequently, the communication facilities of various sub-fleets rang, all reporting the same message.
“Using the rear of the fleet as a guide, exit the Water-Blue Starfield at full speed.” Di Lan Shu’s voice sounded, bringing the momentarily stunned cockpit back into operation. No one spoke; each operator stared intently at their respective control panels, afraid to make any mistakes. As military personnel and individuals routinely transporting special military supplies, they had become accustomed to various unexpected situations. However, today’s sudden crisis, with no warning or apparent reason, was a first.
Under Di Lan Shu’s command, almost everyone reacted within fractions of a second, instantly initiating the reverse propulsion system and maneuvering the warship out of the unforeseen crisis. However, even with such rapid execution, the situation did not improve; the warship system’s warning sounds continued to echo.
Di Lan Shu looked at the operator responsible for checking the defense system. The person’s forehead was slightly sweaty, their ten fingers moved swiftly, and their eyes blinked without missing any anomalies on the real-time holographic image of the warship. Simultaneously, they tried to speak with a calm voice, “Report! No intruders found! No physical attack traces, no signs of psychic intrusion!”
“Warning! Sublight speed restricted, warship subjected to unknown gravitational force, reverse propulsion unable to start! Warning! Gravity enhancement! Warning! Gravity uncontrollable! Warning…”
The following series of warnings plunged the atmosphere in the cockpit into a frozen state once again. “Detach from the cargo hold, all personnel gather in the main cabin, and prepare for ejection!”
Detaching from the cargo hold meant that all the cargo of the entire fleet would be lost. But in this critical moment, there was no room for the slightest hesitation. Then, a horrifying scene unfolded. At the moment Di Lan Shu issued the ejection command, the warning sounds of the warship’s intelligent system suddenly interrupted, replaced by a few seconds of silence. Then, an abruptly explosive and unusually sharp audio burst forth. The sound was exceptionally piercing and extremely noisy, making people instinctively want to cover their ears to prevent their eardrums from tearing.
The almost paralyzed warship was instantly enveloped in this piercing sound. Just as everyone was about to cover their ears, they faintly heard a vague voice within the sharp and noisy sound: “Help… us… save… help… help… me… help…”
Without a doubt, this was a distress signal, and the entity that managed to infiltrate the warship system in such a short time was undoubtedly a highly intelligent life form, perhaps even an evolver. However, the distress signal was so singular, almost incessantly repeating the word “help,” as if it were an unconscious plea emitted when someone was on the brink of death. Apart from the plea for help, there was no other awareness, not even information about the person seeking help, the location of the distress, or the circumstances.
Just as everyone was unsure of what was happening, suddenly, the entire warship abruptly sank, as if it had been forcefully dragged downward. A slight gasp echoed within the warship but was quickly suppressed.
“Report! Ejection hindered! Something is forcibly binding the main cabin to the cargo hold! Unable to eject!” The control personnel balanced their own centers of gravity while still trying to manipulate their control panels.
“Report! The warship is sinking! There’s an extremely strong pulling force at work!”
“Report! No physical attackers were found! No mental intruders found!”
“Report…”
At this point, the screen suddenly experienced noisy interference, and then swiftly, the entire warship vibrated violently. Following that, the view became dim. The holographic image concluded!
The promotional imagery of “Deep Blue Sea” fell into a prolonged period of dark stagnation. Those who had been watching the promotional footage were unable to snap out of it for a long time. It wasn’t until a segment of explanatory text appeared on the screen that they regained their senses: “This is an unedited holographic recording from twenty-three years ago, led by the Blue Book Fleet commanded by Captain Di Lan Shu. However, the recorder of this holographic image was only discovered six months ago by another fleet. Within the past thirty years, more than a hundred spacecraft have disappeared in the Deep Blue Sea region, this relatively small dwarf galaxy with vast liquid water resources. And now, we are about to embark on a journey to this deep blue sea!”
