The Stellar Alliance headquarters has conference halls of various levels, categorized according to the number of participants they can accommodate.
At this moment, in the highest-level conference hall, representatives of all the civilizations in the Stellar Alliance have already been connected online. Excluding the entrance, these representatives' points of light filled the hall like a multitude of stars, forming a ring of light.
Only six individuals had manifested physical forms at the center of this ring.
The two in the very middle were the spokespersons of the Rui Lan Empire and the Kai Yin Federation. The other four - each one a spokesperson for a civilization alliance representative of a galaxy cluster.
These representatives used their unique forms; although each had significant differences in size and appearance, most of them appeared humanoid. More accurately, they were similar to the basic form of carbon-based intelligent life, a form universally defined as 'humanoid'.
At that moment, these six individuals and the countless unseen members of the Stellar Alliance were all focused on the entrance.
A plain white orb slowly drifted in.
Individual representations within the Stellar web could be freely customized, much like avatars on social media platforms. The white orb chose the 'default avatar', the one that hadn't been tampered with.
In ordinary times, it might simply pass as the representation of a newly registered user in the Stellar web; however, with the identity of 'Bai Ye', it instantly became mysterious.
The orb stopped at a negotiation table.
There was no need for formalities. Seeing this, the spokesperson from the Kai Yin federation jumped straight to the question that everyone there was keen on:
"Well, Bai Ye, what do you wish to trade the decryption password of 'Wan Jie' for with the Stellar Alliance?"
All eyes from across the universe were on the orb, time seemed to stretch.
The light on the orb flickered slightly, then it gave the answer:
“The Blue Star.”
The conference hall fell into a hushed silence.
Every civilization present immediately began to evaluate, analyze and vote on this proposed trading condition in the background.
Ye Bai quietly waited in place.
Though her emotions were stretched to the limit, none of them could be detected under the emotionless form of the orb.
For this trade, Ye Bai had spent considerable amounts of time, lining up her logic and planning several contingencies.
Proposing ‘Blue Star’ as the trading object was a well-pondered decision.
The fact that Bai Ye, a holder of powerful psychic strength, had proposed this trade meant that the value of the trade could not be underestimated. A lesser value would place Bai Ye in a ‘weaker’ position, suggesting that only weaker ones could not hang onto their possessions. However, Ye Bai cannot ask for real star coins. Turning it into any other deliverable tangible asset wouldn't be suitable either, it would be akin to revealing one's cards.
While pondering this, Ye Bai inadvertently glanced down at the floor, and suddenly it hit her - the planet beneath her feet was the most suitable ‘trade object’.
The Blue Star located beside the wormhole was extraordinary. Just the ownership rights to a small chunk of land in Ye Bai’s Antarctica could sell for ten thousand star coins, let alone an entire planet. This trading object wouldn’t downgrade the imposing vibe of Bai Ye, the dignitary.
Now the whole universe knew that Bai Ye was, or has been, on Blue Star. So Ye Bai figured he might as well just openly confirm that Bai Ye intended to settle down on Blue Star.
If the universe's civilizations believe that Bai Ye is only pretending, that he actually left Blue Star, then to Ye Bai, there wouldn't be any harm.
Confusion is the key strategy here.
After all, following Ye Bai's proposed trading scheme, there would only be two possible outcomes – agreement or refusal.
If the Stellar Alliance agrees, then naturally no one would truly claim Blue Star. But at the time of the transaction conclusion, the original Blue Star Council, its permanent residents, and its floating population, would all naturally be relocated.
Ye Bai, an ancient human, can thus, hitch a ride free of charge, rightfully departing from the stormy vortex that is Blue Star.
On outbound spaceships, there's no need to worry about purifying the environment. Since it needs to cater to various interstellar travelers like A/C on high-speed trains, it's a fundamental facility.
Now, if the Stellar Alliance disagrees, Ye Bai would propose a second term...
What Ye Bai had no idea about was, from the moment she appeared as Bai Ye and spoke her first sentence to the Stellar Alliance customer service AI, the think tanks of two universe-level civilizations and four galaxy-level alliances had begun analyzing her.
Even if she chose an airtight image, like a light ball, the moment a conversation begins, the 'information exchanged' itself would reveal a lot.
Even for a proficient A-grade mental power wielder, without experience, it's extremely difficult to hide their identity at the negotiating table of the Stellar Alliance.
Because, as civilization progresses, the efficiency of information exchange becomes higher, and the amount of info exchanged during conversation increases.
Different levels of civilization development, different regions, even different amounts of data can carry varying levels of information. If this information volume is compared and screened in large amounts, some judgments about the speaker's background can be made.
For example, the word 'Blue Star' might possess information like coordinates, geographic divisions, atmospheric cover rates in highly efficient civilizations. Whereas for a less efficient civilization, describing this information requires more words.
During conversations between different civilizations, these information details are passed on through mental power. The amount of information each party acquires is different. One could compare this to data transmission speeds – one might have 200M fiber optics, while the other just 1M broadband.
And Ye Bai... she's like dial-up internet at 10K.
When she was in the laboratory, she would ask Aurora, 'What did you have for breakfast?' When Aurora replied, 'I had a cake,' the information Ye Bai received was very general – 'some food'. When Ye Bai replied with the same 'I had a cake' in her language system, she would gain detailed information about the food, such as how it was made, production date, aroma, color, and so on.
Therefore, to the analysts of the universe's civilizations, the amount of information Bai Ye revealed during conversation was minimal, leaving out every single unnecessary detail.
Under these circumstances, no one would think that it's because Bai Ye could only reveal this much information. They would definitely assume it was an intentional disguise!
Consequently, after analysis by major civilizations, a wonderful misunderstanding about Bai Ye arose...
"The intelligence unit could not analyze Bai Ye's civilizational tendencies; they possess advanced counter-information analysis skills."
This outcome immediately sparked further speculation.
Such counter-information analysis skills are not something that amateurs can master – either they have official support or they're 'fugitives' with certain darker past, who happen to be extremely skilled. It seems likely that Bai Ye, who has proposed the Blue Star trade, could be the latter.
Under this assumption, several other conclusions were inferred.
"Bai Ye has a strong desire to trade, and it can help him achieve his significant goals."
"Bai Ye has an 'A' level of psychic power with a probability of 65%, with other possibilities at 35%. The possibility that he is a psychic whose whereabouts are unknown is 27%, and the possibility he is a psychic not on record is 73%..."
"According to a collective analysis from our think tank, there is a 43% chance that Bai Ye is a lone wanderer in the universe, a 55% chance that he is a hidden power in the chaotic astral sea, and 2% are other scenarios... Given these probabilities, the proposal to trade the Blue Star could be a 5% chance of causing a distraction, a 32% chance that he is attracted to the economic value near the wormhole, and a 63% chance that it serves a potential military purpose."
The chaotic astral sea is a lawless land beyond the control of the Stellar Alliance, where every random entity could be a hunted star thief, a terrorist organization, or a rebel fugitive... essentially, it's a gathering place for the notorious outlaws of the cosmos.
After this analysis, civilizations outside the Milky Way were actually hoping the Stellar Alliance would agree, given the inevitable catastrophe wouldn't directly affect them. But the civilizations within the Milky Way were not so willing.
Considering the potential value of cracking the Universal Code, under normal circumstances, the civilizations in the Milky Way would readily trade a livable planet. The Stellar Alliance would be responsible for any compensation of the loss of such a civilization, but the situation with Blue Star was different. It was a public planet next to a wormhole and was projected to become the second transit station in the Milky Way after the Galactic Center.
Just as the analysis suggests, the military value is crucial.
Bai Ye's personality, danger level, and power tendencies are unclear, especially given the potential for him originating from the chaotic astral sea. If he legally occupied a planet next to a wormhole, he could act freely, or even become a war trafficker, using Blue Star as a cover, aiding certain forces in secret military operations across great distances through the wormhole, thus posing a threat to the safety of nearby civilizations.
Civilizations within the Stellar Alliance are forbidden from waging war, however, this rule only serves to maintain a basic stable development status quo. As long as a formal declaration of war is not made, there are ways to circumvent the treaty.
The New Human civilization, being the direct victim of the potential deal, is of course the first to refuse. The Qi-Long Empire and the Pan-Star Federation, both of which have moderate development within the Stellar Alliance, resolutely voted against it in the Milky Way Star Group's resolution.
Quickly, other civilizations in the Milky Way Star Group also voted, finally passing the decision on to the two cosmic civilizations.
All civilizations cast their votes, but the final outcome still depended on the two cosmic civillizations.
Three minutes of quiet in the meeting room later, the spokesperson of the Rui-Lan Empire replied, "I am sorry, but we cannot agree to these terms at present. We hope, however, that you trust our sincerity and propose other trading conditions."
The Stellar Alliance ultimately said no.
This led to mixed feelings, but undeniably, the atmosphere once again became tense, focusing on the orb.
After all, it's a matter of utmost importance to the myriad realms. No one could say for sure whether Bai Ye, having been rejected, wouldn't make another deal.
...
There was no movement from the orb, it seemed to be considering.
In fact, Ye Bai was not too disappointed with this outcome. As the saying goes, 'ask for the moon and settle for less'. She was prepared for the second condition which was largely what she hoped to achieve in the deal.
Suddenly, the orb flickered once more.
"We still have many opportunities for cooperation in the future. I believe in your sincerity... As such, I propose a different terms. I currently reside on Blue Star and find the environment here to be unsatisfactory. If you were to transform it into a Class-5 habitat, I would reveal the deciphered code to the entire Stellar Alliance."
How to solve the problem of purifying the environment was initially a problem that troubled Ye Bai for a long time.
She dared not spend Stellar Coins to solve it, nor could the Stellar Alliance gift her a private ship or a property with a cleansed environment. However, once the idea of trading Blue Star came about, Ye Bai's vision suddenly broadened.
She had the option of transforming the entire Blue Star itself!
Civilizations across the cosmos also pursue living environments. Habitats in the galaxy are categorized into standardized classes, split into five tiers. Clear guidelines exist for aspects such as radiation and disease for each level. Essentially, advanced civilizations have their core population residing on planets with classes of at least three or above. There are also civilizations that have just joined the Stellar Alliance that could naturally achieve Class 3 or even Class 4 habitats due to less intense development.
Previously, Aurora suggested to Ye Bai that she should sell her property, move away from Blue Star and live on a habitable planet. These were the ones referred to, as long as they achieved a habitat class of three or more, Ye Bai could adapt to it.
However, the current Blue Star had been impacted by a minor meteorite thousands of years ago and housed a large number of transients with very few permanent residents, so its class of habitat had always been at two.
Transforming it into a Class-5 habitat was like moving from a low-rent apartment to a high-end villa area, with the configuration fully maxed out.
After all, this was a demand made by 'Bai Ye'. It couldn't be demeaning.
Whether or not making such a request would be considered 'easy-going' and undermines the identity of a strong character, Ye Bai had contingency measures in place. Who said that registering an official account meant becoming a lord? Wasn't there still a challenge to explore the hidden levels?
In the game of 'Myriad Realms', the price of character death was something the interstellar players were unwilling to accept. Just as leveling up the character would increase mental strength, the penalty of decrement after death would also lead to actual mental injury.
Ye Bai would continue to guide in subsequent trades, demonstrating that she had bigger goals in future.
The brains trust of interstellar civilizations is not silly, they definitely wouldn't overlook the fact that Bai Ye was indeed fishing for a big catch with a long line.
In fact, this is true as well. Once this statement was made, all civilizations started analyzing again. Of course they wouldn't simply assume this term was just Bai Ye wanting to improve her living conditions. What Ye Bai didn't expect was that, due to miscommunication, their understanding of Bai Ye had a 'tiny bit' of deviation.
"Becoming an official player is just a prerequisite for becoming a Lord. Bai Ye has a strategy to become a Lord and wishes to continue trading..."
"Bai Ye proposed modifying the environment of Blue Star, there's a slight chance that it's because he, the solitary cosmic wanderer, wishes to settle here. More likely, however, is that this is the first step in his plot for Blue Star!"
"...According to analysis by the joint think tank, there's a high probability that Bai Ye is an A-level entity in the chaotic star sea, controlling the exploration progress in various worlds. He wants to use this information to take control of Blue Star, and ultimately establish a power or foster a civilization on the surface."
And so...
'An A-level psychic planning to retire on Blue Star, who has the power to protect a planet, and could retreat intact even if the trade breaks down.' This is the character Ye Bai constructs for Bai Ye.
'A rogue from the stars with ulterior motives, who plans to use Blue Star to whitewash his identity and establish a new power or civilisation.' This is how most of the civilizations in the Stellar Alliance perceive Bai Ye.
...
"We accept your terms."
As soon as the spokesperson gave his reply, the micro fleet that had been deployed to Blue Star appeared in the sky, employing technology that most of the population couldn't understand. They instantly set about changing the planetary environment.
"It's estimated that the radiation will be cleared in 5 minutes, and the virus filtered in 7 minutes... As a deposit for this trade, the last batch of microbiological cultures needs 46 minutes to reproduce to its optimal state, to act as the conclusion payment."
Under standard conditions, such modifications would take at least two days. Yet, they were all completed in less than an hour, giving a frightening display of their technological prowess.
The light sphere was as calm as ever. "Agreed."
Seven minutes later, Bai Ye unveiled two sets of codes in the meeting hall, corresponding to 'Identity' and 'Cryptograph'.
The civilizations present were elated. They immediately commenced research experiments.
They picked a lucky individual, who hadn't entered the Many Worlds yet, and inputted the code into the stone door. They quickly received a response.
Blood of the Gods! The Seed of Creating!
For the first time, the star citizens who'd been playing on guest accounts saw the benefits of being a regular player. The hometown good will was neutral, chances to accept tasks increased, and they no longer ran the risk of being hunted in major cities.
Simultaneously, these testers also shared the information about the Seed of Creating.
Researchers, who'd made many hypotheses, quickly concluded that this object - which could activate within thirty miles of any town - was key to changing classes to become a Lord.
Moreover, this group of officially registered players found that some among them were born in the wilderness.
This player used the dungeon key and noticed the dungeon. Excitely, he logged off to report it.
However, the next time he logged in, he found that he'd left the dungeon. His dungeon key had turned grey, displaying an energy bar. It needed resources to refill, and only once it was filled would it again become functional.
Other testers who had died in the dungeon discovered the same phenomenon upon reviving. Their dungeon keys hadn't disappeared, but had undergone the same change.
This important information naturally sparked many speculations among different civilizations. In the waiting period for the final 'balance payment', prompted by instructions, the representatives on the site tentatively asked Bai Ye:
"Do you intend to sell your class transfer strategy?"
This question was both an inquiry and an attempt to judge Bai Ye's level.
Spheroid: "Like the instance strategy, that comes at a separate price."
Bai Ye might have already exceeded the level 20 class transfer. It's likely she wasn't born in the wilderness... Yet, another speculation was born.
But no further inquiries were made about the price by the Stellar Alliance representatives, neither did Ye Bai elaborate further.
The decryption of the password is an inevitable trend in the universe, and certain things like strategies which can widen the gap between players obviously belong to the highest bidder. After all, everyone has ulterior motives, especially when it comes to different civilizations.
The principle of 'if they are not of our kind, their hearts will be different' is universally true even in this universe.
...
The transaction ended, and Ye Bai disconnected from the galactic network and returned to reality.
Ye Bai didn't get up immediately, but rather slumped onto the public seat.
【Shut down the purification module】
Fresh air filled her lungs. In a trance, Ye Bai felt like she was in an open grassland, a tranquil forest.
This is indeed the highest level of habitat!
The space that was supposed to display advertisements was now broadcasting the public news of Blue Star.
Having just undergone a planetary transformation, Blue Star naturally wouldn’t be silent.
At this point, most players of 'All Universe' were busy deleting their characters to become official players. However, not everyone could afford the account for the galactic web, and there were still numerous residents and tourists on Blue Star who hadn’t got the account. They were celebrating happily on the public network of the planet, thanks to 'Bai Ye' for improving the environment of the planet.
Ye Bai laughed bitterly.
Who could have imagined that the pivotal cause behind the environmental transformation affecting the entire planet was only because a prehistoric human wanted to save the purification cost.
Looking at the bright starry sky, Ye Bai began to plan her next moves.
From the moment she first entered the game to the last deal she closed, a day and a half had passed. She was left with 163 star coins.
Civilizations that had reached the interstellar level had achieved freedom of production. Nutrient fluids were cheap, you could get a day’s food for 1 star coin. Although the cost of living on Blue Star was relatively high, what Ye Bai had left was enough to last half a month, or even a whole month if she was being frugal. This time would be enough for her to earn money in the game.
As long as she concealed her information well in the game, everyone would believe that Bai Ye had entered into the 'All Universe' way ahead, and was now a powerful lord who had undergone a class transfer.
And prehistoric human Ye Bai was just lucky enough to purify the environment and register the Galactic web by selling her property rights. She was able to ride the wave and make money in the 'All Universe'.
If she kept her spending in reality moderate and didn’t raise it too abruptly, she wouldn’t attract attention.
Lastly, a still anxious Ye Bai checked the communication logs one last time, confirming she hadn’t received any messages from the Blue Star Council.
Ye Bai knew very well, that there were potential risks in this transaction. The 'decryption password' she offered was part of Chinese characters with numerics and alphabets.
During the ten thousand-year migration, the new human civilization, due to various external and internal events, gradually diversified and scattered throughout the universe. The strongest Dynastic Dragon Empire and the Pan-Star Federation, two strands of human civilizations now, indeed had their languages and texts altered. But meticuolous research and matching could unearth their connections, like the oracle bone script and simplified Chinese characters, eventually tracing all the way back to her – a person from the ancient Blue Star.
Once they found her, coupled with the need to purify the environment, the clues were obvious.
But looking at it now, it seems that no one has bothered to review the language history of an ordinary planet, not even the new humans. The likelihood that other cosmic civilizations might notice is even smaller.
In the relief of a sigh, Ye Bai found himself engulfed in an indescribable emotion—
It was as though history's wheel was slowly rolling over him, and all he could see was the back of the unflinching charioteer.
"How... arrogant."
