The current chapters are less than 3k words so I won’t be dividing them.
Ever since the short popular science article about mermaids was published in “Star Beast World”, it had sparked a wave of curiosity, imagination, and anticipation about mermaids.
Although mermaids had not been seen for a long time in the interstellar space and were more like a mythical tradition, the number of hidden mermaid fans remained massive.
It was similar to the previous success of the mermaid-themed ocean essence skin care products under the Wells Group, which had broken sales records due to the mermaid concept image in its advertisement.
Who could resist such a mysterious and beautiful existence?
“Could it be that Teacher Fish Soup Noodles has developed an interest in mermaids?”
Under everyone’s gaze, Editor-in-Chief Wellington solemnly opened the new article by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles.
“A nurturing game?”
The next second, everyone’s expressions became strange after seeing the beginning of the new short story.
The previous article by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles had the protagonist, Da Xi, suddenly turning into a little snow leopard, and now the story seemed to have shifted to a new plot direction.
[[“I” accidentally bound a mysterious nurturing game, and the paperman I raised turned out to be a mermaid!]
“Wait a minute, just thinking about this magical scene is making the corners of my mouth want to curl up.”
A sudden remark by one of the editors was instantly met with unanimous agreement from everyone.
Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, where can we download this game?!
Who could resist raising a mermaid themselves?
“Isn’t this a bit too fantastical? Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, is this a fictional novel or marine biology popular science?”
Of course, some editors quickly expressed concerns.
However, everyone’s attention remained fixed on the light brain. After reading through the whole article in one go, they quickly realized things weren’t that simple.
In this short and concise fairy tale, not only were the descriptions of mermaid habits and appearances so real and detailed, it almost felt as if Teacher Fish Soup Noodles had personally seen a real mermaid.
Moreover, the various aquatic creatures that appeared in the story were all vivid and lifelike.
Because of this, after reading the entire article in one go, a sense of loss unexpectedly hit everyone.
It was as if a wonderful dream of an ocean journey had abruptly ended with the final page.
For a while, the editorial department was quiet, and after a long pause, someone quietly asked:
“By the way, how about we publish this short story as the finale of the last issue of “Mysteries Of The Ocean”?”
After all, whether this article passed or not no longer had to be discussed. What needed discussion was the right timing to release it.
It would be a pity if it were published casually.
“The final piece of the ocean special? I think it’s perfect, and very suitable. It absolutely fulfills everyone’s beautiful fantasies and feelings about the mysterious deep sea. But there’s one thing I’m curious about.”
Editor-in-Chief Wellington murmured as he looked at the light brain, his gaze shifting toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“What are you curious about?”
“Do you think we have any aquatic races among our readers? What do you think they’ll feel after reading this article?”
In fact, “Star Beast World” did indeed have a large number of loyal aquatic readers.
Even though the article written by the little jellyfish, Ke Ke, had been sent back for revision, causing a bit of a stir among the young aquatic descendants, many of them still couldn’t resist subscribing to the entire set when “Star Beast World” released the following ocean-themed magazines.
Originally, everyone’s lives were calm and monotonous, but with the arrival of these amazing novels and magazines from the Federation Star, every day had become more exciting and vibrant.
It was no longer common to see people playing near the water’s edge. Instead, groups of them were found lying on the reefs, deeply engrossed in reading the latest stories or novels with relish.
Especially Fish Soup Noodles’ popular serialized novel “The Vast Immortal Path”, which had become the top favorite among them. Many young aquatic descendants began to imagine how perfect it would be to practice immortality and soar to the skies.
“Fortunately, Shuyi broke through to the Golden Core stage at the last moment and joined forces with Hanzhou to shock the entire audience. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep all night, and that scene kept replaying in my mind.”
“If the two of them can walk the path of cultivation together, honestly, I’d be extremely happy. I feel like they’re definitely going to create miracles.”
“Plus, the first volume is about to be released in physical form. I really have to collect the entire set. These readers from the Federation Star are so enviable, there are so many events, like the Sword Flying Competition!”
While everyone discussed the latest developments in the first volume, they also looked at the final activity page.
In order to celebrate the completion of the first volume of “The Vast Immortal Path”, the cultivation fans from Central Star organized a Sword Flying Competition in the largest square on Central Star.
Once the competition was announced, it attracted tens of thousands of cultivation fans to sign up, so much so that they had to hold a preliminary round first.
In the preliminary round, the various modified flying swords brought by the cultivation fans dazzled many spectators. There were also quite a few fans at the scene with long hair, wearing white immortal cultivation robes.
Major interstellar media outlets reported on the news, showcasing the lively cultivation atmosphere on the scene.
“I really want to participate too; this is basically the real-life Immortal Spirit Tournament.” QAQ
Someone nearby sighed softly, feeling that these Federation fish fans really knew how to make things happen. It was crowded and lively, and for some reason, they felt a bit envious.
“Stop envying these Federation people. The mystery blind boxes we ordered have finally arrived!”
Ke Ke quickly grabbed the package from the delivery flying robot and eagerly opened it to take out the spiritual treasure blind box.
During this time, most of the young aquatic descendants had spent all their pocket money on buying blind box figurines and various other merchandise from Huanyu.
The main point was that you can’t buy it all, you simply can’t buy it all!
Moreover, as the release of spiritual treasure blind boxes grew, the once hard-to-find hidden protagonist editions were being drawn by more and more fans, and the number of posts showing off hidden editions on star network had also increased.
This caused many fish fans who hadn’t drawn them yet to jump up and down anxiously.
“The universe above, it seems we’ve finally drawn the Scorched-Tail Guqin!”
Ke Ke, the little jellyfish descendant, carefully unpacked the figurine inside the blind box. All the young aquatic descendants immediately looked at the beautiful ancient Quqin in Ke Ke’s hand with a mix of wonder and envy.
Tentatively plucking the strings, a mystical and peaceful sound played, blending with the layers of ocean waves, and everyone’s mood was instantly immersed and lightened.
Some people even couldn’t help but turn into their true form and soak in the water to listen to the music.
“It’s really beautiful, it’s like Shuyi is personally playing the guqin for me.”
“Do you guys think that in some corner of the universe, there really exists a world of immortal cultivation? The people there all have long hair, wear white robes, and can attain immortality?”
Amidst the soothing Quqin music, everyone chatted about the story. Over time, they had unknowingly become fish fans from outside the Federation.
“I’m more curious about what kind of author can write such a story. Every time I finish reading, I feel so happy, like I’m bubbling with joy. Don’t you feel like these words have a kind of magic?”
After reading, when returning to the real world, an uncontrollable sense of melancholy always arose.
How wonderful would it be if there was another chapter, one that never ended?
Ke Ke sighed deeply.
“Speaking of which, maybe we can bring a set of these books to Aunt Landis. Do you think it would improve her mood?”
During the discussion, a girl’s shy suggestion caused everyone to pause for a moment.
Aunt Landis was a rare whale. She had been living quietly by the sea in her villa ever since her artist spouse passed away. It was said that her mental sea had some issues, leading to her long-term illness.
“If only the mermaids Grandma mentioned really existed, they could help Aunt Landis cleanse her mental sea.”
Everyone had a deep affection for Aunt Landis, as they had played on the whale fountain together when they were young. Back then, Aunt Landis was still healthy and beautiful.
But ever since her mental sea fell ill, Aunt Landis had become a bit melancholic and very wary of the outside world.
“Why not read some novels? Otherwise, it’s so boring just staring at the sea.”
So during their next visit, the young aquatic descendants brought a large box of Fish Soup Noodles’ novels to the old steward of Aunt Landis’s estate.
“This is a small gift for Aunt Landis. After reading it, she’ll feel super happy, even though the author is from outside.”
Looking at the group of young visitors, the old steward smiled.
“There have been a lot of gifts sent recently. And it seems like they’re all connected to Federation Star.”
“Has anyone else sent gifts to Aunt Landis?”
Hearing this, everyone looked over curiously.
“Yes, I really hope these will make Miss Landis feel better.”
The old steward stroked his beard, somewhat pleased.
“Of course. We all really enjoy reading these stories, and after finishing them, we feel particularly good. By the way, doesn’t a good mood help relax the mental sea too?”
Ke Ke and the others encouraged him.
“That makes sense. I’ll seriously suggest to Miss Landis that she should take a look when she has time.”
The old steward’s expression became more serious.
After all, there were many things that Miss Landis had left untouched, gathering dust without being opened even once.
For instance, the gift box from that human artist from Federation Star a few weeks ago had still not been opened.
As for Yu Mian, who had not received a response from the lady for a long time, he began to doubt his initial judgment.
Could it be that this artist’s widow was not actually an aquatic race?
Or should he just wait a bit longer for a reply?
After thinking it over, Yu Mian didn’t have any immediate answers and decided that it was more important to continue serializing the second volume of “The Vast Immortal Path”.
Since the first volume of “The Vast Immortal Path” was officially published across the universe’s major star systems, this wonderful story on the world of immortal cultivation had captivated a massive number of cultivation enthusiasts at an astonishing speed.
The first “Sword Flying Competition” on Central Star had ended successfully, and fans in other star systems also copied and hosted several competitions on their home planets. Over the course of a month, more than ten sword flying events were held.
Occasionally, while walking on the streets, one could still hear discussions about which spells and magical treasures from “The Vast Immortal Path” were stronger, with debates so heated that people almost began ranking them and offering detailed critiques. It truly lived up to the title of “traffic king.”
The more addictive the first volume of the book became, the louder the calls for the second volume to resume serialization grew.
[Ke Ke: If only Teacher Fish Soup Noodles were an octopus, then they’d have multiple hands to write more books!]
After posting this comment on the star network, the jellyfish Ke Ke received a massive number of likes from interstellar readers.
And after seeing this comment, Yu Mian also took the opportunity to announce that the second volume of “The Vast Immortal Path” was officially starting its serialization, as well as the new short story release date he had finalized with “Star Beast World” magazine.
When this latest news came out, it undoubtedly dropped a deep-water torpedo in the fish fan community.
Teacher Fish Soup Noodles had actually collaborated with “Star Beast World” again?
[“Star Beast World, you bastard! You have good stuff and didn’t tell us in advance. What is the main protagonist of Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ new short story?”]
[The next issue is the finale for “Mysteries Of The Ocean”, so the story Teacher Fish Soup Noodles wrote should be about aquatic creatures, right?”]
While everyone across the star network was heatedly discussing, the final installment of Star Beast World’s “Mysteries Of The Ocean” special was officially released, riding the wave of excitement.
The first thing many people did upon receiving the latest issue of the magazine was to check the table of contents and find Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ new story, eagerly diving straight into the subject matter.
[Fuck, mermaids!]
[Wow, I’ve been enjoying reading about mermaids lately, and Teacher Fish Soup Noodles actually wrote about them! I’m so happy!]
Most star network readers were naturally ecstatic, but Ke Ke and the other long-awaited aquatic descendants felt quite complicated.
“What, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles actually wrote about mermaids!?”
“But how much can a human really understand mermaids? Is this just hopping on the trend?”
When everyone by the sea saw the newly released “Star Beast World”, they subconsciously got a little annoyed.
They had thought that Teacher Fish Soup Noodles was the only unique and good human in the entire universe, and they never expected him to also take advantage of the popularity of this topic.
After all, there had been many articles about mermaids on the star network recently, and everyone felt they were all written without any logic.
“So, are we not going to read it?”
A chubby pufferfish descendant asked nervously.
“Why not read it? Not only should we read it, but we should also examine it carefully!”
“If there’s any inaccurate description of our aquatic race, I will seriously write a letter to “Star Beast World” magazine and demand they retract it.”
Ke Ke hesitated for quite a while, finally coming up with a perfectly reasonable justification, and solemnly opened the first page.
This made the others around them breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, they were really curious about what kind of mermaid image Teacher Fish Soup Noodles would create.
However, as they flipped the pages, all the young aquatic descendants quickly fell silent, instead focusing intently on the astonishingly bizarre lines of text.
For a moment, the coast was quiet except for the sound of the waves and the rustling of the magazine pages.
The story this time took place in an ordinary seaside town in the stars.
A water train blew its arrival whistle, parting the layers of waves on the surface of the sea as it traveled toward the town station under the sunset.
The sparkling sea reflected the rosy glow of the setting sun and the ancient orange star train carriages, resembling a fairy tale world.
Occasionally, flying fish leapt out of the water.
The protagonist, Zhu Yao, sat by the window in one of the train carriages, returning to the seaside town where his grandparents had lived their whole lives during the summer vacation.
But a strange app automatically bound to his light brain turned what should have been a peaceful vacation into something incredibly bizarre.
The app’s icon was an ornate oval glass fish tank.
What kind of virus or thief software was this?
As Zhu Yao was frowning and trying to delete it but couldn’t, the app automatically opened and activated.
[[[Welcome to the Ocean Mysteries app. Let’s start by naming your little fish.]
[Please enter a name.]
In the empty room, the only piece of furniture, a fish tank, contained a chibi mermaid curled up and asleep, holding its fish tail in its arms.]]
