Volume 3: Deep Blue Sea
At the persistent and fervent request of Lie Yang, Ye Jian activated the virtual body projection feature on his end. Consequently, Lie Yang’s virtual self quickly arrived at the house where Ye Jian was located. With confident strides, Lie Yang entered the kitchen under the scrutinizing gaze of Ye Jian, whose eyes were as sharp as a knife.
Seeing the familiar face of Lie Yang all of a sudden, Shu Xun was slightly surprised but naturally delighted. Wearing a small apron, the little figure swung the kitchen knife back onto the rack and then fluttered his wings to fly in front of Lie Yang, extending his chubby little hand. “Long time no see, Lie Yang.”
Lie Yang’s gaze followed the movement of the kitchen knife for a moment, then grinned, revealing his white teeth. He extended a friendly finger and shook hands with Shu Xun. “Shu Xun, long time no see. Why are you here?”
Shu Xun rubbed his small chin, looking serious. “It’s a long story.”
Lie Yang, with a puzzled expression, was contemplating when an unfamiliar voice echoed in the room. “Usually, in these situations, there’s an 80% chance the next thing you hear is a lie.”
Shu Xun was so frightened that he almost dashed back to the kitchen. Not only was he startled by the sudden appearance of the voice, but also because, as the voice suggested, he was indeed contemplating how to explain his identity. Shu Xun couldn’t tell the truth.
If it were merely encountering a time-space instability point resulting in time travel, upon exposure, he might be forced to cooperate in research for a while. Of course, worse consequences could also happen. However, the reason Shu Xun traveled through time was due to his innate abilities. In an era with such advanced technology, Shu Xun couldn’t guarantee that his secret wouldn’t be discovered, let alone anticipate the consequences of exposure.
“Given this typical reaction, it seems my guess was correct.” Just as Shu Xun was startled, a blue butterfly calmly flew out from behind Lie Yang and gracefully landed on his shoulder.
“Shu Xun, you’ve actually learned to lie. Fortunately, my Blue Butterfly awakened its cerebral domain ability. Come on, continue talking. Let my Blue Butterfly reason whether your words are true or false.” Lie Yang looked smug and proud, seemingly unconcerned about Shu Xun’s lying, and was eagerly preparing to test his Blue Butterfly ability.
Shu Xun, seeing this, placed his hands on his hips and hummed. “I want to lie, what can you do about it?”
The Blue Butterfly, poised on Lie Yang’s shoulder, stopped its fluttering. After a few seconds, the unfamiliar voice spoke again, “Usually, to judge, I didn’t understand that statement.”
Lie Yang “…”
In the live chat:
“Hahaha! Who was just confidently claiming that their Blue Butterfly could surpass the little dumpling!”
“Shu Xun can still cook, but the Blue Butterfly doesn’t need to cook. Please lift the kitchen knife as thanks!”
“My king got face-slapped again. Shu Xun’s way of speaking relies on understanding, but the Blue Butterfly is obviously still too young. Helpless shrug.”
Lie Yang immediately raised his antennae but soon got distracted by the dishes on the table. After a moment, the three individuals and three butterflies were seated at the dining table. Lie Yang’s virtual body had a high replication rate, able to convert eaten food directly into energy and still savor the taste of the food.
If there was one cultural exchange that rapidly spread after the various races gradually came into contact, it was undoubtedly culinary culture, especially human culinary culture. It gained more popularity than virtual networks and quickly ignited enthusiasm among the various races.
Lie Yang ate quickly and gracefully, praising the meal while not forgetting to serve a small portion for his Blue Butterfly on a tiny porcelain plate. Lie Yang’s Blue Butterfly appeared to be even more proud and reserved than Lie Yang, silently landing on the plate and nibbling on the food. After a brief moment, it rubbed its small legs, then spoke in its characteristic manner. “It’s acceptable.”
Familiar with the Blue Butterfly’s way of speaking, Lie Yang naturally understood that this was already quite high praise. Somehow, Lie Yang’s Blue Butterfly seemed to magnify the character of arrogance, making it challenging to receive compliments from it.
However, Big Bliss, who was not familiar with Lie Yang’s Blue Butterfly’s way of speaking, obviously didn’t understand it that way. While landing on the edge of Shu Xun’s bowl, Big Bliss flapped its wings, a blue light flashed, and it was already next to Lie Yang. Then, with a violent flap, it sent the Blue Butterfly, who was rubbing its hands, flying.
Lie Yang’s Blue Butterfly slapped onto the ground with a snap. Big Bliss flapped its wings again, landing back on Shu Xun’s bowl. Little Bliss, seemingly accustomed to this, showed no desire to investigate, remaining motionless on Ye Jian’s hand.
Silence filled the room for a few seconds. The Blue Butterfly on the ground finally made a sound, crying out, then swiftly flew towards Lie Yang, instantly disappearing at Lie Yang’s forehead position, evidently merging into Lie Yang’s body, hiding away.
Shu Xun scratched his head. “Uh, it seems our Blue Butterflies have completely opposite personalities. Yours likes to solve problems with intelligence, while mine prefers to solve them with violence. Is it okay?”
Lie Yang: “…”
Lie Yang had expected to overpower Shu Xun, but not only was he crushed by Shu Xun, but even Shu Xun’s butterfly overpowered his own. Why would Shu Xun’s awakened butterfly, supposedly so clever and cute, turn out to be violent? Why did his own powerful butterfly, upon awakening, cry and run back home after being bullied by another butterfly?
Clearly, Lie Yang didn’t understand why this outcome had occurred. Perhaps it was because of his butterfly bloodline that the level of evolution of his awakened Blue Butterfly was significantly higher than others. Among the three Blue Butterflies, only Lie Yang’s could communicate directly. From this, it could be seen that awakened Blue Butterflies would gradually grow. However, despite the higher growth level of Lie Yang’s Blue Butterfly compared to Shu Xun and Ye Jian’s, it was still sent flying by Shu Xun’s butterfly, showing no fighting spirit.
On the other side, Big Bliss and Little Bliss had already activated their “dad mode.” Previously, when Shu Xun was eating, they had to run around the table, often circling the plate. However, now, the two Blue Butterflies, who had become proficient in using forks, were flying around the table, especially Big Bliss. In sync with Shu Xun’s wishes, Big Bliss would fly wherever Shu Xun wanted. Lie Yang was almost dumbfounded, not knowing that Blue Butterflies could have such functions. Thinking of his own Blue Butterfly, which only knew how to rub its hands every time it ate, Lie Yang felt that his previous idea of his Blue Butterfly surpassing Shu Xun’s was too naive.
As the lunch was nearing its end, Lie Yang’s Blue Butterfly appeared again, crying, and landed on the small porcelain plate to continue eating the unfinished food. For a moment, Lie Yang felt even more disheartened.
In fact, a person’s appearance and their inner self could differ significantly. Even a powerful individual could have some softness or even coquetry in their hearts that they weren’t aware of. On the other hand, someone who seemed fragile on the outside could have a strong and resilient inner self. As lunch ended, Lie Yang and Ye Jian agreed to continue teaming up in the game, but, of course, the idea of bringing Shu Xun along to win wasn’t mentioned again.
After a temporary farewell, Lie Yang continued his livestream, while Shu Xun and Ye Jian made final preparations for the upcoming game. Shu Xun also prepared to activate his live stream function, and the twinkling starry eyes of Shu Xun had already hinted at the reason.
Because the spawn points in survival games are random, players entering the game in team mode would leave signals for each other or agree on a general meeting location before entering the game. Once they familiarized themselves with the game world’s map, they could locate their team through coordinates. Of course, races with special communication methods found it relatively simpler.
The three of them now had a special means of communication – the Blue Butterflies. Those with awakened Blue Butterfly abilities could sense the positions of other Blue Butterflies, provided the other party allowed it.
Before entering the nutrient pod, Ye Jian once again confirmed the precautions after entering the game with Shu Xun. Only after making sure did he put Shu Xun into the mini-nutrient pod. Ye Jian then squatted in front of the nutrient pod for a while. When he saw Shu Xun waving his chubby hand inside, he turned around and entered his own nutrient pod, accessing the login interface for the game.
Similar to the promotional video, the game login interface depicted an endless and boundless deep blue sea. The sea surface was calm, without a ripple, and the color was as clear as a wash. Players were on a small wooden boat, awaiting the start of the game’s public beta.
There were thirty minutes left until the official launch of the game, and the atmosphere online was already boiling. The data in the livestream rooms of major platforms was rapidly increasing. The official live stream had started, with professional commentators explaining information about “Deep Blue Sea,” player data entering the game, and introductions of some high-level god-tier players.
After Ye Jian started his livestream, he quickly occupied the top spot in popularity, and the commentators naturally introduced him.
“Everyone is familiar with Ye Qian, who has a massive fan base and is known as the coldest streamer. Usually, he operates independently, but in the previous survival game, he formed a small team with other players, including Lie Yang. It remains to be seen if these two will team up again in this survival game. Because we haven’t received specific data about the game world, everything is just speculation. So, Purple, what do you think about ‘Deep Blue Sea’?”
“It is said that the coverage of liquid water on the surface exceeds ninety percent, and not only the game’s background planet but most planets in the Water Blue Starfield have high liquid water reserves, which is a rare phenomenon in the current universe. Therefore, in my understanding, the planet where the game is set is likely to be a liquid planet. If that’s the case, races with flight and diving talents would have a significant advantage.”
At the critical moment when the two commentators were speculating, a live stream room named Shu Xun’s popularity was growing at an astonishing speed, quickly surging into the top ten. Purple, seeing the name of the livestreamer, was instantly excited and directly requested a change of perspective.
As a result, the audience’s view presented a scene completely different from other livestream rooms. The same vast sea, the same blue and calm surface, and the same small wooden boat, but no players were visible. It wasn’t until two seconds later that the audience saw a small figure flipping over the ship’s side, and then standing boldly at the bow of the boat.
Audience: “…”
In Shu Xun’s live stream room, countless gifts and barrage messages were flooding in. The sudden appearance of Shu Xun was a pleasant surprise for everyone. Most people had speculated that the difficulty of this game, “Deep Blue Sea,” would surpass that of “Winter’s End.” To unexpectedly see Shu Xun again under these circumstances was truly a delightful shock.
“It’s really Shu Xun! Shu Xun is livestreaming! And he’s going into ‘Deep Blue Sea’!”
“Go, Xun! Besides sleeping, I’ve decided to stick with you until you clear the game!”
“Baby Xun standing at the bow looks so cool! That bun face, those little short legs!”
“Little dumpling finally started his own livestream, and gifts can be sent freely! Also, it feels like the login interface here for Shu Xun is completely different. While it’s just a small boat for other players, for Shu Xun, it’s like a spacious playground where he can run around in circles. Haha, so roomy!”
“I have a feeling that this time, the first team to clear the game will be the one with Little Dumpling. Ready to livestream with the Little Dumpling. With his clear logical reasoning ability, “Deep Blue Sea” will have no secrets!”
“I request the official to change Little Dumpling’s boat into a leaf, haha!”
“Who still remembers that Little Dumpling loves eating fish? This world is clearly prepared for him!”
“Upstairs! Generally speaking, there is a large size difference among fish in the sea. Not only whales and sharks, but even a penguin could pose a threat to Little Dumpling!”
“Saying that feels quite dangerous. Imagine Little Dumpling being chased by a penguin… No, I can’t help but laugh!”
The livestream room was filled with joy and laughter. Shu Xun, who had already entered the game login interface, couldn’t see it, but the little person knew that countless people were watching. This feeling seemed different from when he live-streamed with Ye Qian before. The timid little dumpling became a bit nervous, so he stood at the bow of the boat, letting the slightly cool sea breeze blow for a while. Shu Xun almost turned into a stone, easing his nervous mood. Then, he walked around the bow with the same movements in both hands and feet.
Livestream Chat: “…” A wave of speechless expressions flooded the chat.
“Hahaha, don’t tell me the little dumpling is nervous! Is that the way he walks?”
“Puhahaha! Walking with the same movements in both hands and feet, impressive! I’ve already recorded it, ready to upload it to the official of “Deep Blue Sea” to make it a memory video!”
“This is definitely the most unique login approach I’ve ever seen! The little dumpling has stopped, seems to realize his walking style isn’t right.”
On the bow of the ship, Shu Xun stopped his steps, then lifted the other short leg, simultaneously raising the arm on the same side. Once again, he changed direction and started walking with the same movements in both hands and feet.
Shu Xun: 〒▽〒 What exactly am I nervous about?
The livestream chat was filled with laughter, clearly not expecting the super intelligent little dumpling to exhibit such silly and cute behavior.
