The spaceship had arrived above the Supreme Star.
However, it did not descend immediately, but circled the planet in orbit.
Jiang Ye sat by the window and looked out, clearly seeing one spaceship after another gliding forward at the same speed, one every few hundred meters, of all sizes and models, like a cluster of shining meteorites.
"Unbelievable, can spaceships also get stuck in traffic?" Jiang Ye was surprised.
"It's peak tourist season, and the starports on the Supreme Star are full. Ships are leaving and arriving, and they all have to queue up," Cen Yemeng said, sitting on the sofa and busy peeling a pomelo.
"To be honest, the Supreme Star is a bit disappointing. It's where the heads of various planets gather, and they can't even guarantee transportation," Isabel said, sitting next to Cen Yemeng and holding out her hand.
Cen Yemeng finished peeling the pomelo and put it in Isabel's hand.
Isabel took it and started eating ravenously.
"Old Yi, have you ever heard the saying, 'He who takes from others has short hands and soft mouths'?" Jiang Ye suddenly smiled like a hunter spotting prey.
Isabel froze, her chewing stopped. She looked at Jiang Ye, then at Cen Yemeng, her expression like a bewildered squirrel.
"I thought it was strange. Why did Mengmeng suddenly call me over and even peel fruit for me? Are you two trying to corner me?" Isabel asked in alarm. "What's going on?"
"We did call you over today for a small matter," Cen Yemeng chuckled. "Jiang Ye and I plan to work on the virtual planet project. We need to design a new planet first and write it out in the form of a novel."
"Old Yi, you are the Empress of Novels, so this important task is entrusted to you," Jiang Ye agreed.
Isabel shook her head frantically halfway through.
"Why are you still unwilling? You've already eaten the pomelo," Jiang Ye said.
"I'll puke it out right now," Isabel said with a resentful look. "If I had known that eating this pomelo meant writing a novel, I wouldn't have eaten it even if you beat me to death! And when did I become the Empress of Novels? Did Jiang Ye bestow that title upon me?"
"Yes, I bestowed it upon you. I'll give you an honorary title later," Jiang Ye said with a sly smile. "Write it, write it. Don't you love writing novels?"
"I'm busy and tired," Isabel said. "But I can gather novelists from various planets to form a working group and tackle this together, and then I'll oversee the quality."
"A novelist working group?" Jiang Ye was surprised. "Is that even a thing? Don't people usually lock themselves in a room to write novels alone?"
"Heh, you're so ignorant," Isabel smiled. "Collaborative novel writing is very common. I just had a meeting on the literary market last month and talked to some old writers. There are husband-and-wife writing teams, where a couple uses one pen name, the husband writes on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th, and the wife writes on the 2nd, 4th, and 6th, with weekends off. There are studios with over a dozen people of similar skill who write on the same theme. They might get one or two books that become popular, and discard the others, with everyone focusing on those one or two books. There's also a combination of human and AI. In short, there are many instances of cluster operations in the writing market."
"Holy cow," Jiang Ye's worldview was slightly shaken.
"A working group is fine too," Cen Yemeng nodded. "Actually, Jiang Ye and I just wanted to push the work onto you. You'll be fully responsible, and we'll just sit back and watch the show."
Isabel glared. "You two are ganging up on me!"
"How can this be called bullying? It's trust!" Jiang Ye said righteously. "I wouldn't feel at ease entrusting it to anyone else. I only feel at ease entrusting it to the Empress of Novels!"
"I only feel at ease entrusting it to the Empress of Novels!" Cen Yemeng repeated like a recording.
"Alright, alright, I'm used to being bullied by you guys," Isabel sighed. "Then I'll just work overtime and be responsible for this."
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng beamed. As expected, Isabel was easy to bully.
"I've 'stolen' the virtual planet setting collection from Wanli Star," Isabel took out her phone. "Since we're idle, shall we take a look for reference?"
"You can 'steal' that too?" Jiang Ye was amazed.
"Actually, I just asked for it directly, and Brother Digua gave it to me very readily. After all, for something like the pan-consciousness field, the more consistent everyone's ideas are, the higher the possibility of breakthroughs," Isabel said.
"Please don't call him Brother Digua. He's a proper planetary leader. How can you give him such a nickname?" Jiang Ye's forehead was covered in black lines.
Isabel tapped her phone and raised an eyebrow:
"Their virtual planet settings are very interesting, quite mystical. I'll read a part of it to you."
"First, the virtual planet they set up is called Liwan Star, which is probably a homophone of Wanli Star spelled backward."
"When other planets make settings, they set a bunch of physical parameters, atmospheric environments, geological distributions, and so on. But Liwan Star has none of these settings, only stating that it is a habitable planet with vast lands."
"Liwan Star has a lifespan of fifty billion years, and life originated thirty billion years ago, giving birth to countless strange and exotic creatures."
"There is a type of creature called a Cloud Tree. Its body form is giant leaves, over ten meters long, connected by snake-like soft stems."
"These Cloud Trees usually float by high-altitude air currents, flying around the entire Liwan Star in a bomber-like posture. Their leaves are semi-transparent white, and when mixed with the clouds, they look like large patches of clouds, hence the name Cloud Tree."
"The scale of a Cloud Tree can reach thirty kilometers wide, a vast expanse that rushes past from high altitudes. If it exceeds this size, the Cloud Tree's weight becomes too heavy, causing it to tear apart or fall from the high-altitude air current zone. There are also some small Cloud Tree seedlings, about the size of an umbrella, floating alone, easily eaten by passing birds."
"There is a type of bird called a Cloud-Migrating Bird, which is very large, two meters tall when standing, and plump and fat."
"These birds only inhabit Cloud Tree clusters with a diameter of over one kilometer, as smaller Cloud Tree clusters cannot support the weight of a Cloud-Migrating Bird."
"Cloud-Migrating Birds and Cloud Trees have a symbiotic relationship."
"Cloud Trees serve as resting points for high-altitude birds. Many birds flying at high altitudes, when tired, see a Cloud Tree and land on it to rest."
"However, this brings a problem: if too many resting birds land, the Cloud Tree cannot bear the load and will fall from the stable air current layer and die."
"Therefore, Cloud-Migrating Birds have a strong territorial instinct and do not allow any other birds to land on the Cloud Trees where they sleep. Once discovered, they will rush over and kill and eat those birds."
"After eating, the Cloud-Migrating Birds excrete their waste, using their wings to spread their droppings evenly on the Cloud Trees, like painting a ship's hull. The nutrients in these droppings are quickly absorbed by the Cloud Trees, allowing them to grow larger and fly more stably."
"So, Cloud-Migrating Birds obtain a continuous supply of food from passing birds via Cloud Trees, while Cloud Trees absorb nutrients from the droppings of Cloud-Migrating Birds to ensure their safety."
"However, within the Cloud-Migrating Birds, there is also a symbiotic organism called a Flying Rat."