If it weren’t for the Sonic Whales leading them deep into the Dark Domain, they would never have dared to believe—not in a million years—that there were this many stardust mutant creatures lurking inside.
“Holy black hole, the Dark Domain is practically a den for these stardust mutants, isn’t it?!”
“Gods above, please let us pass safely through the Void Algae Belt.”
The soldiers on the warships were pale with shock, and the ordinary civilians were even more terrified—especially those crammed into mechs, practically nose-to-nose with the Void Algae. They barely dared to breathe, their throats tight with fear.
So much Void Algae!
It was an absolute nightmare for any spacecraft!
And then, to everyone’s utter amazement, the Sonic Whales simply sauntered forward without changing course a single degree and cruised straight through the Void Algae Belt.
Eisen, now fully recovered, pressed his face almost flat against the porthole, his mouth forming a perfect round O, like a child discovering an unknown world. His face was etched with innocent bewilderment.
“J-Just like that? We’re through? That simple?”
Oh man, after spending so long on Gonggong Star, he barely recognized the universe anymore!
Wesley, riding atop a Sonic Whale, drifted past the porthole and caught sight of Eisen’s dazed expression. His heart softened, and he patted his mount. “Come on, buddy—let’s give our new friends a little taste of awe.”
The Sonic Whale gave a subtle flick of its tail and, in the blink of an eye, carried Wesley right up to a small patch of Void Algae.
Drooling slightly, Wesley said with dreamy anticipation, “Freshly sprouted Void Algae—slice it into thin strips, toss in some chili and garlic, and it’s delicious!”
Crispy, refreshing, with just a tiny hint of heat. It was so good it could send you straight to heaven!
And Wesley wasn’t the only one with that thought—many of the stardust humans felt the same way.
In no time, the area around the Void Algae was swarming with people.
The survivors from the Fifth Star Ring watched in stunned disbelief as these stardust humans actually turned algae-picking into a competition.
“Am I hallucinating? Is this not Void Algae but just… space weeds?”
“I’m more curious about what they even want with it.”
Aboard the space warship, the Chief Scientist had somehow produced a pair of non-prescription glasses and perched them on his nose. He raised two fingers and pushed the frames up with authority.
“Void Algae is composed of a single-layered composite membrane of stardust and ice crystals, embedded with countless microscopic grains that absorb all kinds of radiation—which is why it emits that faint, shifting phosphorescence in the dark.”
Both military commanders and everyone else on the bridge turned to look at him.
With the air of a detective declaring, “The truth is out there!”, he said with absolute confidence, “I hypothesize that the stardust humans are planning to harness the algae’s photosynthesis for energy conversion! After all, Void Algae can directly capture and utilize a wide range of electromagnetic spectrums and cosmic rays as an energy source.”
Ah, so that was it!
The deduction made perfect sense. Jiuzhou Star was located in the resource-scarce Dark Domain, so of course they’d need to find ways to supplement their energy and fuel.
In the past, some Federation scientists had also proposed using Void Algae as an auxiliary energy source for spaceships—but the algae were rare and highly destructive, so the idea was eventually scrapped.
Wesley, having gathered the tenderest strands of Void Algae, floated over to Eisen’s porthole, held up his harvest, and mouthed slowly: “For you! I’ll cook you something good when we get back.”
This was the man who had been willing to stand in front of the Party Leader—a true good soul. He deserved a bowl of chilled, dressed Void Algae noodles.
Through the ship’s hull, Eisen couldn’t hear a word, but he could piece together Wesley’s meaning from his body language. He had a smart robot bring him a glow-board, wrote out [Thank You], and held it up to the window.
Wesley waved a hand—no problem.
The two military commanders and the Chief Scientist noticed the exchange, and they had Eisen ask about the algae on the board.
The Chief Scientist mused, “If our guess is confirmed, that means Jiuzhou Star’s technological level in stardust biology is remarkably high.”
For them, the Fifth Star Ring survivors, to integrate better into Jiuzhou, they needed to find their niche. So far, their biggest bargaining chip had been their superior military tech reserves—something Jiuzhou seemingly lacked.
But if Jiuzhou was following a completely different developmental path… well, that wouldn’t be good news for the survivors of the Ring.
After weighing their words carefully, the three had Eisen write: “Why pick the small Void Algae? Aren’t there bigger ones ahead?”
Could it be that the smaller ones had a higher energy-conversion efficiency?
Wesley lifted a clump of Void Algae, opened his mouth wide, and mimed chewing: “The small ones are more tender. Taste better.”
Eisen blinked in mild surprise, turned to the trio, and said, “He seems to be saying… it tastes better?”
The Chief Scientist shook his head like a wind-up toy gone haywire. “Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This is a stardust organism—how can you eat it?!”
Eisen offered weakly, “I wouldn’t be so sure, sir… Have you ever had spicy crayfish?”
They’d even dared to eat Zergs—what was a little Void Algae compared to that?!
The Chief Scientist’s face cycled through shades of pale and flushed. His cosmic worldview and knowledge system had already been teetering on the brink, and now even his common sense was under attack?!
To put him out of his misery, Eisen wrote on the board: “Small Void Algae tastes better?”
Wesley nodded like a pecking chicken and gave a big thumbs-up.
And just like that, a top-tier scientist quietly shattered.
But what would really break him was yet to come.
After passing through the Void Algae Belt, they encountered a massive Radiant Jellyfish.
Its main body was a pulsing bell-shaped mass of high-density plasma, with a highly ordered magnetic dust core at its center. Trailing behind it were hundreds of tentacles, each several meters long.
It lurked near a planet, actively hunting the energy released by stellar flares. Any ship that got too close would suffer severe electromagnetic interference—electronics would fail. And if one of those tentacles struck, the entire vessel would go dead.
The Radiant Jellyfish had been peacefully floating near the planet, minding its own business—but the moment it spotted the stardust humans and the Sonic Whales, it yanked its tentacles back as if it had seen the devil and zoomed deep into the distance.
“Go!” Grandma Lin’s eyes lit up with unprecedented enthusiasm.
Wesley was a beat slower but quickly gave chase.
And once again, the survivors of the Fifth Star Ring witnessed a jaw-dropping spectacle.
A group of stardust humans was actually hunting a Radiant Jellyfish! They only returned, somewhat reluctantly, after hacking off two of its tentacles.
The Chief Scientist, expression blank, took the board from Eisen’s hand and wrote: “The Radiant Jellyfish… also for eating?”
Wesley frowned, a little put out. “Sort of. It doesn’t taste as good as octopus—but these days, octopus are our comrades. Can’t exactly eat our own people, right?”
So, the Radiant Jellyfish was just a substitute for octopus.
The Chief Scientist, the two military commanders, and all the survivors of the Fifth Star Ring wore expressions that were… difficult to describe.
Heh. Eating a Radiant Jellyfish. How terribly inconvenient for you all.
You stardust humans—what exactly have you done to the poor creatures of the Dark Domain?!
