“This magazine is really inaccurate…”
Having personally heard Yu Mian sing before, Huo Ting, who was essentially the only “mermaid keeper” in the entire interstellar world, definitely had something to say about this.
“Emm…”
But before he could finish, Yu Mian pressed a hand against him in warning.
It was fine if he admitted it himself, but no one else could say it.
This issue was really unjust. Not only was he a terrible singer, but they even emphasized the stereotype that all mermaids had beautiful voices. This was just embarrassing!
“Even if you can’t sing, you can write. How about writing an article to clear things up?” Huo Ting, who was pinned down, chuckled and suggested.
If the magazine editors had known that Yu Mian, their special guest author, was actually one of the legendary mermaids, they probably would’ve asked him to write a feature about mermaids himself.
“Uh, me writing an article?”
Yu Mian was momentarily stunned by the suggestion and quickly started considering it.
It wasn’t exactly impossible.
It was just that writing about mermaids himself would inevitably carry some personal bias, ahem.
Just as Yu Mian was feeling that this issue of the magazine was somewhat unsatisfactory, in the neighboring E821 water planet, a group of aquatic descendants playing in the sea was expressing the same sentiment.
“What’s this? The magazine Douglas recommended isn’t that impressive. This mermaid story is too brief. The people from the Federation Star clearly don’t understand at all. It’s nothing like my grandma, who actually saw a mermaid in person!”
A group of young aquatic descendants were sitting together on the beach, a rare occasion. They huddled together, heads close as they stared at the magazine they had bought from far away.
They used to spend all their time playing in the water. But ever since they had been introduced to the hobby of reading, they had curiously flipped through a few pages and then gotten completely hooked.
However, as aquatic races who refused to leave their home planet, they were somewhat conservative. They considered those who hid their identities and went to live in other star systems as completely rebellious.
So, as they browsed through the magazines and recommended books Douglas had been sending back, they viewed them with a mix of curiosity and skepticism.
They wanted to read, but they weren’t entirely willing to admit how much they were enjoying it.
“But these humans seem to really like our mermaid legends? This magazine is supposedly really popular in the Federation Star System.”
Another aquatic descendant was scrolling through his light-brain device and checking out online discussions. A quick glance at the Federation star network showed a flood of comments from readers.
In fact, the recent issues of “Star Beast World” had always been popular. But the third issue of Mysteries Of The Ocean had simply caused a new surge in interest.
Who made the mysterious and popular race introduced at the end so attractive?
Although Yu Mian hadn’t expected the so-called “mysterious and popular aquatic race” in this issue to be mermaids and even felt a little disappointed after reading it, for the vast majority of interstellar readers, they were absolutely thrilled.
On the star network, people were already begging the magazine to write more about mermaids in the next issue. We love it! We want more! This is nowhere near enough, okay!
“They must be really pitiful, they got so excited over just a few scraps of shallow content.”
Seeing the enthusiasm online, the aquatic descendants couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of sympathy.
It seemed like the people of the Federation were actually quite friendly toward aquatic races?
No wonder Douglas’s older brother, Ernis, had gone to settle in the Federation Star and even become a big celebrity.
“Keke, you should write an article for them. Let these people from the Federation be completely shocked! Just tell the story of how your grandma met a mermaid and even had her mental sea soothed!”
Someone quickly noticed the contributor email address on the back of “Star Beast World” and had a new idea.
“Huh? Me? Submit an article to a Federation magazine? That doesn’t seem right.”
Keke, who was suddenly being encouraged to write, hesitated for a moment.
Though deep down, she was a little tempted.
“Alright, if you really don’t want to, we can just keep following “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain”. The finale is coming up, and I’m still catching up on previously completed books.”
“Trust me, the new novel “The Vast Immortal Path” is absolutely amazing! I swear!”
After finishing the magazine that Douglas had specifically sent back, everyone quickly returned to following their favorite novels.
That’s right, among all the works Douglas had introduced to them, their favorite was undoubtedly those by the Federation author known as “A Bowl of Fish Soup Noodles”.
There was something almost magical about this author’s works.
When the plot was exciting, it made them want to dive into the ocean and swim as hard as they could out of excitement.
When it was sad, their moods would sink like a stormy sea, turbulent and heavy.
But no matter what, by the time they finished a book, their mental power would feel incredibly refreshed and relaxed, as if they had just traveled the world through the story’s words.
“I have to admit, the people from the Federation do have some talent for writing… I’m even tempted to do the immortal cultivation themed photoshoot.”
Some of the younger aquatic descendants were already getting restless after reading.
“Wait, how can you say that? A novel is just a novel. Are you really thinking of leaving the ocean because of a book?”
“Uh, well, I was just saying.”
Although some of the older aquatic descendants felt that this author, “A Bowl of Fish Soup Noodles”, posed a bit of a danger.
Through storytelling, he had unknowingly increased everyone’s curiosity and goodwill toward the Federation Star System.
For example, after reading “The Vast Immortal Path”, many aquatic descendants started dreaming about flying on swords, leaving the ocean and soaring into the sky.
That was truly outrageous.
“But I read that the Eternal Night Star System established diplomatic relations with the Federation Star System because of Teacher Fish Soup Noodles. Nothing bad happened, and they even built a themed haunted house!”
Of course, while they didn’t dare argue with their elders directly, they would still whisper about it in private.
Meanwhile, as “The Vast Immortal Path” continued to fuel a craze for immortal cultivation across different star systems, the official military-produced TV adaptation of “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” was about to be released on all major platforms across the star network.
Because of this, Yu Mian was once again invited to the military research institute. This time, however, it was for assisting with research on mental power.
“We’ve discovered that it’s not just your written works that have a soothing effect. Even when adapted into a visual format, viewers experience a certain degree of mental relaxation during intense, exciting scenes! Do you know how valuable this ability is?”
“Of course, we’ll need to wait until “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” officially airs and concludes to gather enough sample data to support our findings.”
Now that Cook and Yu Mian had become quite familiar with each other, he was practically shining with enthusiasm as he explained the research reports.
This made Yu Mian somewhat uncomfortable with the close distance. He subconsciously wanted to step back a little, but he was also afraid of offending Dr. Cook.
What if he was really perceived as an arrogant mermaid towards humans? Ever since reading that article on mermaids in the magazine, Yu Mian had suddenly developed a rare sense of self-awareness about his image.
